Brook

Where Brook comes from

* As an English surname, from the noun brook. * As a north German surname, from Low German Brook (“swamp, marsh”), related to the above. * As a Dutch surname, Americanized from Broek, from broek, also related to the above. * As a Jewish and German surname, Americanized from Bruck, Bruch (from Bruch (“wetland, marsh”)).
— Wiktionary's entry for Brook
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1685
    Brook Taylor born
    English mathematician
  2. 1931
    First appearance
    #4,331 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1971
    Brook Lee born
    American beauty queen, Miss Universe 1997
  4. 1972
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 1980
    Peak, #503
    405 babies named Brook — more than any year before or since.
  6. 1983
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #942.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Brooks.
  • A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage, variant of Brooke.
Namesakes
  • Brook Taylor · English mathematician, 1685–1731
  • Brook Lee · American beauty queen, Miss Universe 1997, born 1971
  • Brook Billings · American volleyball player, born 1980
  • Brook Kerr · American actress, born 1973
  • Brook Jacoby · baseball player and coach from the United States, born 1959

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.