Browning surname meaning

Browning is an English southern surname from the Middle English personal name Brouning, continuing Old English Brūning, a derivative of the byname Brūn (“brown”). The -ing formation marks a personal name or “son/associate of Brown,” so the catalog type is parent’s name rather than a direct color nickname for every later bearer. Brunning and Brining are related spellings; Brownings adds a plural or genitival -s. Parent’s name fits the Brūning personal-name path, and that reading is high confidence among English surname dictionaries.