Bryant History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Bryant family

The surname Bryant was first found in Essex, where the Domesday Book of 1086 records the Latin form of the name, Radulfus filius Brien at that time. The same source also notes Briendus de Scal in Cambridgeshire. 1 The variant Brien was recorded in 1088 in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk. 2 The Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London, 1188-1274 list Colin Briant, London, 1269. 3

The name is “a Breton name introduced into England by the Normans. In the north, it is Olr Brian, brought by Norsemen from Ireland (where the name was common) to Cumberland and across the Pennines into Yorkshire.” 2

By the time of the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, the family was scattered throughout ancient Britain: Wydo Bryan, Devon; Alicia Bren, Cambridgeshire; Acelot Bryvon, Cambridgeshire; Thomas filius Brian, Yorkshire; Alan filius Brian, Yorkshire; and Brian de Brampton, Gloucestershire. 3

“The intermediate stage between Brian and Briant, or Bryant, is found in the following entry: ‘1770. Married – John Briand and Barbara Backhouse’: St. George’s, Hanover Square.” 3