Braxton

This is a dialectually transposed locational name probably from Browston in Suffolk and composed of the family name Brown and the Olde English 'tun' - a farm or enclosure. Such locational names were given to inhabitants who moved either voluntarily or otherwise from their place of origin. The farther one moved away the greater the spelling changes that occured. In the modern idiom the name appears as Broxton and Braxton. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Broxton. which was dated 1230 The Pipe Rolls of Norfolk. during the reign of Henry 111 nickname The Frenchman 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.