Breckenridge (surname)


Breckenridge is a locational Scottish surname, referring to a person from a place named Breckenridge, and other phonetic spellings, e.g. Breckonridge, Breakenridge, Brackenridge, et al. Such names as the aforementioned are anglicizations of the Scottish place name "Brackenrig". There are several villages in Scotland named "Brackenrig", including in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Glasgow, and others. "Brackenrig" referred to plowed fields with ridges and ferns, prolific in this area. The prefix derives from braken. The suffix derives from rigg. Early spellings had several variations including Brecenrigg, Brecenrig, Breckinrigg, Breconrig, Breconnrigg; and these evolved to Brackenridge, Breakenridge, Breakinridge, Breckenridge, Breccinridge, Breckenridge, and others. As people moved, the surname spread to England and Ireland, becoming a common English and Irish surname as well. At the time of the British Census of 1881, the frequency of the surname Breckenridge was highest in Ayrshire, followed by Haddingtonshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire, Pembrokeshire, Argyll, Kirkcudbrightshire, Edinburghshire and Dunbartonshire. People with the surname include: