Brackenridge Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History

Originally an English and Scottish locational name from any of five places called “Brackenrigg” in Cumberland, or from “Brackenrig” in the old barony of Avondale in Lanarkshire, they now form part of the Strathclyde region, and are thought to be of the ancient Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. In Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, a place named Brackenrig is associated with the first bearer of the name. The placename means the “bracken-covered ridge” deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century “braecen” (Old Norse “braekni”) meaning bracken, with “rigg” (“hryggr”) a ridge. An English recording of this surname dates back to the 14th Century (see below). Robert Brakenrig witnessed a letter of reversion witnessed by Johannes Brakanrig in 1504 when he served as sergeant of the upper barony of Renfrew in Scotland. Breckenridge, Braikenridge, and Brekonridge are also variant spellings. Margaret Jane Brackenridge, daughter of John and Jane Brackenridge, was christened in Cawthorne by Barnsley, Yorkshire on June 1st 1827. The first rdocumented spelling of the family name is Nicholas de Bracanrig, dated 1332 in the Subsidy Rolls of Cumberland, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as “The Father of the Navy”, 1327-1377.

More information will be added to this section soon.  If you would like to find out more about your lineage we offer affordable research services.   We trace your lineage so you can learn more about your ancestors, where they came from, and who you are.

Blazons & Genealogy Notes

1) (exemplified 1846, to George Charles Brackenridge, Esq., of Ashfield Park, co. Tyrone, on assuming the name of Brackenridge, in lieu of that of Trimble). Quarterly, 1st and 4th, az. three roses ar. barbed vert seeded or, a pile of the last, charged with a rose gu. also barbed of the third and seeded of the fourth, for Brackenridge; 2nd and 3rd, per fesse ar. and or, a bull’s head caboshed sa., for Trimble. Crests—A pile gu. charged with a rose, as in the arms, betw. two wings az. Motto—Virtute et industrial.
2) to George Charles Brackenridge, Esq., of Ashfield Park, co. Tyrone, az. three roses ar. barbed vert seeded or, a pile of the last, charged with a rose gu. Crests—A pile gu. charged with a rose, as in the arms, betw. two wings az.