Brobeck - Name

This surname is something of a puzzle. It is European in origin, but its spelling would suggest a Polish origin, but this is not so, the name being rarely recorded in Poland. In our opinion based upon many years of research, the name is of Old German pre 10th century origin, and a derivation of the popular surname 'Brobach or Probach'. As such the surname is one of a large group of nickname-surnames created in the 13th century, at the very dawn of hereditary surnames, and based upon individual characteristics. These characteristics may be physical, may relate to a job, or in most cases they describe a persons behaviourial pattern. In this case the surname describes a fast talker, one who was good with his voice. It is almost impossible to give an exact meaning. Medieval values and attitudes were usually very different to the 20th century, and without being present, and knowing the person on whom the nickname was first 'bestowed', exact analysis is not possible. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from the German church registers of the period, include Johannes Probach of Dierdorf, Rheinland, on April 22nd 1686, and Margaritta Brobeck, of Pfalz, Bayern, on November 19th 1704. The coat of arms granted in Wurttemburg, Germany has the distinctive blazon of chequy gold and silver, overall a red fesse. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Burcardus dictus Brobeck, which was dated 1290, recorded in the rolls of Lottingen, Germany, during the reign of Emperor Rudolf 1st of the German Empire, 1273 - 1291. 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.