Bras Family History
Bras Name Meaning
Dutch: from Middle Dutch bras ‘arm’. This was probably a descriptive nickname for someone with some peculiarity of the arm but the word was also used as a measure of length and may also have denoted a surveyor (compare 3 below). Spanish; Portuguese (Brás): from a vernacular form of the personal name Blasius popularized through the cult of the 4th-century Christian martyr. Compare Portuguese Braz . French: from Old French bras ‘arm’ a term used as a measure of length hence a metonymic occupational name for a surveyor. Breton (mainly Le Bras): nickname for a corpulent man from bras ‘big’. Polish (Braś): unexplained.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022