Brooks Family History

English: usually a variant of Brook with excrescent -s. The optional addition of -s with no grammatical function is usually post-medieval but some examples of the same person's name occurring with and without -(e)s have been noted as early as the 14th century in South Lancashire.

The -es in such cases probably has neither a plural nor a genitival function and the name means ‘dweller at the brook’ not ‘dweller at the brooks’. A plural sense cannot be ruled out elsewhere but a non-grammatical -(e)s must also be considered a strong possibility.

Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames.

Americanized form of German Brucks.

Americanized form of Dutch Broeks an inflected form of Broek see Brook.