The Brehm surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,282 people carried this name — #6,431 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 55,900 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (5,288).
What the name means
The meaning of the Brehm surname
South German surname, from the noun Bremse (“gadfly”). Also from placenames such as Bremgarten or Bremkamp, where the first element is the archaic *brām (“bramble, broom”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Brehm» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
205 people named Brehm live in Switzerland.
They live in 14 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Aargau.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 173 people named Brehm.
7 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 18 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 142 people named Brehm live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Entre Ríos.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
20 people named Brehm is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Brehm in American newspapers,
1913.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 18,535 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Brehm,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Christian Ludwig Brehm 1787–1864 · pastor -
Christian Ludwig Brehm 1787–1864 · pastor
-
Alfred Brehm 1829–1884 · naturalist -
August Brehm 1854–1931 · Catholic priest -
Johann Rudolph Brehm d. 1730 · historian
-
Heinrich Brehm d. 1598 · printer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Brehm.
- Bredin 232 · U.S. census
- Bredy 273 · U.S. census
- Bree 666 · U.S. census
- Brege 487 · U.S. census
- Breger 330 · U.S. census
- Brehaut 172 · U.S. census
- Brehon 134 · U.S. census
- Breidenstein 194 · U.S. census
- Breil 103 · U.S. census
- Breiner 1,214 · U.S. census
- Breit 1,302 · U.S. census
- Breitenbach 1,441 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Brehm is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.