The Brookins surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,499 people carried this name — #6,219 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 53,800 people counted. That is up 13% from 4,887 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Brookins surname

A topographic surname for someone who lived by a stream, from a derivative of Old English brōc (“stream, brook”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Brookins» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

26 families named Brookins, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 130 people lived in those households, 5 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 3 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Vermont 7
New York 5
Massachusetts 4
Virginia 4
North Carolina 4
Maine 1
Maryland 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 231 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Brookins in American newspapers,
1910–1914.

Newspaper page from The San Francisco Call carrying the name Brookins
The San Francisco Call 1911-01-16
Newspaper page from Los Angeles Herald carrying the name Brookins
Los Angeles Herald 1910-12-30
Newspaper page from The Birmingham Age-herald carrying the name Brookins
The Birmingham Age-herald 1914-06-17

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Brookins in Australian newspapers,
1910s–1940s.

137 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Brookins. The most, 120, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 37
Queensland 30
South Australia 27
Victoria 21
Western Australia 15
Tasmania 6

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Brookins.

Who carried it

People named Brookins,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Walter Brookins
    Walter Brookins 1889–1953 · aircraft pilot
  • Richard Brookins
    Richard Brookins 1922–2018 · military personnel
  • Dewey C. Brookins 1904–1982 · writer
  • Tommy Brookins 1906–1988 · singer
  • Douglas G. Brookins 1936–1991 · geologist
  • Carole Brookins 1943–2020 · economist

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Brookins,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States269 records

269 records of the Brookins name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 142
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 74
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 30
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 13
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 5
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 3
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 1
  • Sacramento County historic burials 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Freddie Brookins

    Born 1948; from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. U.S. Marine Corps, rifleman; killed in action 1968 in Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Buried at Beverly National Cemetery, New Jersey.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record John H. Brookins

    Born 1909 in Texas. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Sam Houston; porter from Hunt County. U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II; died 1964, buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Catherine Brookins

    Arrived at New York in 1851 aboard the Fanny from Londonderry, aged 29; servant. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 269 records for Brookins in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia2 records

2 records of the Brookins name in Australia Tasmanian Names Index
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record John Brookins

    Left Hobart Town in 1850 aboard the Pet, bound for Whaling Voyage, as crew.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Brookins in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0).

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Brookins name in the United Kingdom St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Brookins

    Buried in 1803 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 50.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Counts: MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Brookins.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Brookins 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.

See the Brookins volume
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