Pembroke Family History
Pembroke Name Meaning
English and Irish: habitational name from Pembroke (Welsh Penfro from Welsh pen ‘end’ + brog ‘land’) in southwest Wales. Pembroke Castle was of strategic importance in medieval and Tudor times because of its commanding position at the western end of the Bristol Channel and its control of seaborne traffic between Britain and the south of Ireland. It was from Pembroke that Richard de Clare Earl of Pembroke nicknamed ‘Strongbow’ launched an expedition to Wexford in 1169–70 which brought many English and Welsh surnames to Ireland.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022