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. 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 (northern Middle English, meaning "bracken", itself derived from the Old Norse brækni). The suffix derives from rigg (meaning "ridge", from the Old Norse hryggr). 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 (66.2 times the British average), followed by Haddingtonshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirlingshire, Pembrokeshire, Argyll, Kirkcudbrightshire, Edinburghshire and Dunbartonshire. People with the surname include: