Breen is used as a family name or surname in Ireland. It is 5 characters long in length.

Family Name / Last Name: Breen
No. of characters: 5
Origin: Ireland
Meaning:

Variant form of Brunne. See Bourne and Brown - Parishes and places in counties Cambridge, Durham, Lincoln, Hants, Sussex, etc. Many trivial localities are so called, and Atte Burne is a common medieval surname. As a topographical term it means sometimes a bound or limit, (French borne,) and sometimes a running stream, (Anglo-Saxon, byrna.).

When in 1607 Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, went into voluntary exile, the government of James I. wished to displace his adherents from Ulster, in order to introduce an English colony there. One of the seven native septs thus dispossessed were banished to the distant county of Kerry, where, to avoid persecution, they dropped the unpopular name of O'Neill, and adopted instead that of Breen, from Braon O'Neill, the head of their branch.

Breen is a form of the Brune. The brown.

A variation of Brune. Brown haired or complexioned; Burn or Brook; also Beorn or Bear. As the bear was king of the northern forests, his name was used principally by poets to signify chief, noble, prince, king.

Breen is form of Brune. Descendant of Brun that means brown.

Grandson of Braon meaning "sorrow"; The last name can also be a variant of O'Brien.

Lastname Breen is a variation of Bruhn. The dark-complexioned man.

The family name Breen is the variation of Brunn. Well, spring.

How popular is Breen?

Breen is common in United States, Ireland, England, Australia, Canada, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Wales, Egypt, South Africa.

Breen is ranked 13888 on our list.

Despite the fact that the number of Breen bearers increased by 7.05 per cent in 2010 US census to 14170 since 2000, the surname slipped by 50 spots and ranked at 2549. The last name was found in around 5 per hundred thousand population. Please refer to following table for race and ethnicity.

Race 2010 2000
White 88.47 90.05
Black 6.86 6.44
Hispanic or Latino 2.41 1.54
Others 1.23 1.07
Asian and Native Hawaiian
& Other Pacific Islander		 0.78 0.67
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.25 0.23
Breen is quite popular family name mostly used in United States while Ireland is ahead in terms of density. Around 40133 people have been found who wears Breen as their family name. Breen is used widely across the globe. More detailed information can be found below:
RankCountryCount
Countries with ten thousands of Breen:
2,549 United States17,966
Countries with thousands of Breen:
145 Ireland5,784
1,743 England4,694
997 Australia3,961
1,919 Canada2,845
275 Northern Ireland1,396
Countries with hundreds of Breen:
994 Scotland857
5,201 Netherlands538
1,506 New Zealand520
1,963 Norway318
1,299 Wales265
23,402 Egypt244
29,785 South Africa173
Countries with low frequency i.e., 50 - 100:
183,539 Thailand55
Countries with very low frequency i.e., 10 - 50:
535 Saint Lucia49
161,051 France36
44,772 Spain33
13,630 Iraq31
7,666 Singapore30
1,083 Jersey19
56,744 Belgium18
61,721 Zimbabwe16
118,579 Argentina16
205,224 Germany14
58,392 Pakistan13
578,870 India12
61,025 Austria12
361,204 Russia12
73,425 Czechia12
50,646 Israel11
Countries with very very low frequency i.e., 6 - 10:
1,005 Bermuda10
350,626 Brazil10
73,605 Sweden10
30,726 Qatar9
40,289 United Arab Emirates8
21,385 Ecuador8
10,125 China7
150,293 Malaysia7
1,433 South Korea6
249,062 Philippines6
77,571 Switzerland6
555,748 Indonesia6
Show Full Last Name Distribution

Immigrants to US

From Ireland

Mary-Teresa-Sr. Breen was 33 years old when she migrated to USA during Irish famine on May 15, 1846. She lived in Great Britain where she worked as and took Monteauma from Liverpool. 25 years old James Breen, 25 years old William Breen, Immigrant James Breen, John Breen (18) Shoemaker, Ellen Breen (36) Immigrant, Kate Breen, aged 23, William Breen, aged 21, John Breen (30) Weaver, and 218 other Breen around 48.48% of whom were workman while others worked as shoemaker and spinster, servant, farmer, milliner, seamstress migrated to US from Dublin, Liverpool and Belfast.

From Germany

Farmer Abrm. Breen from Germany aboard the Maria Magdalena from Rotterdam. He is registered to be 24 years old when he arrived in USA on May 8, 1852. 22 years old Nelty Breen, Peter Breen, aged 22, Baaltje Breen (28) Farmer, Jaccemmyntje Breen, aged 5, Neeltje Breen (9 months old) Farmer, 31 years old Willem Breen, 19 years old Franz Breen, Jul. Breen (18) Laborer, Anna Breen (6), Carl Breen, Chas. Breen, Hannah Breen (40) Matron, and 5 other Breen around 41.67% of whom were farmer while others worked as laborer migrated to US from Rotterdam, Bremen & Havana, Hamburg and Liverpool & Queenstown.

Breen Namesakes

  • Jim Breen, professor in the area of IT and telecommunications before his retirement
  • Edward G. Breen, American politician of the Democratic party
  • Vincent I. Breen, Roman Catholic priest of the United States dioceses of San Francisco and Oakland
  • Thomas Breen, Norwegian politician for the Labour Party
  • Vincent DePaul Breen, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Walter H. Breen, Walter H. Breen Jr
  • Gary Breen, former footballer
  • Mike Breen, American play-by-play sports commentator for 'NBA on ABC' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network
  • Dan Breen, volunteer
  • Steve Breen, nationally syndicated cartoonist
  • Marie Breen, Australian politician
  • James Breen, Irish independent politician
  • Pat Breen, Irish Fine Gael politician
  • Barry Breen, former Australian rules footballer
  • Richard L. Breen, Hollywood screenwriter and director
  • George Breen, American former competition swimmer
  • Bobby Breen, Canadian-born American actor and singer
  • Joseph Breen, American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America
  • Tommy Breen, Irish footballer

Breen Namesakes

  • Jim Breen, professor in the area of IT and telecommunications before his retirement
  • Edward G. Breen, American politician of the Democratic party
  • Vincent I. Breen, Roman Catholic priest of the United States dioceses of San Francisco and Oakland
  • Thomas Breen, Norwegian politician for the Labour Party
  • Vincent DePaul Breen, American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Walter H. Breen, Walter H. Breen Jr
  • Gary Breen, former footballer
  • Mike Breen, American play-by-play sports commentator for 'NBA on ABC' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network
  • Dan Breen, volunteer
  • Steve Breen, nationally syndicated cartoonist
  • Marie Breen, Australian politician
  • James Breen, Irish independent politician
  • Pat Breen, Irish Fine Gael politician
  • Barry Breen, former Australian rules footballer
  • Richard L. Breen, Hollywood screenwriter and director
  • George Breen, American former competition swimmer
  • Bobby Breen, Canadian-born American actor and singer
  • Joseph Breen, American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America
  • Tommy Breen, Irish footballer

Related Family Names: