Brooks Family History

14-Day Free Trial

GET STARTED

Brooks Name Meaning

English: from the possessive case of Brook (i.e. ‘of the brook’). Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Americanized spelling of German Brucks.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press


Similar surnames: Brook, Brookes, Brooke, Brock, Book, Booke, Fooks, Rook, Brookins

Ready to discover your family story?

Simply start with yourself and we'll do the searching for you.

NEW

Brooks Ethnicity Estimate

What are the common regions with the Brooks name?

These results combine data from everyone in the AncestryDNA® database with the last name Brooks. The Ancestry® ethnicity regions shown are top five most common on average for these people.

Explore the full experience here

  • England & Wales

    47%

  • Ireland & Scotland

    17%

  • Germanic Europe

    6%

  • Cameroon, Congo, & Southern Bantu Peoples

    6%

  • Benin/Togo

    4%

Your own DNA-based ethnicity estimate will differ from what you see here. To get your personalized ethnicity estimate, order an AncestryDNA® kit.order an AncestryDNA® kit.

Order a DNA Kit Today

Brooks Family Origin

Where is the Brooks family from?

Mapbox
© Mapbox © OpenStreetMap Improve this map
You can see how Brooks families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Brooks family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Brooks families were found in the USA in 1880. In 1911 there were 1,848 Brooks families living in Ontario. This was about 52% of all the recorded Brooks's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Brooks families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Brooks surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

View Census Data for Brooks

Brooks Family Occupations

What did your Brooks ancestors do for a living?

In 1881, a less common occupation for the Brooks family was Labourer. The most common Brooks occupation in Canada was Farmer. 30% of Brooks's were Farmers. Farmer, School and Laborer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Brooks.

View Census data for Brooks | Data not to scale

  • Farmer

    30%

  • School

    6%

  • Laborer

    4%

  • Labourer

    4%

Census records can tell you a lot of little known facts about your Brooks ancestors, such as occupation. Occupation can tell you about your ancestor's social and economic status.

Brooks Historical Records

What Brooks family records will you find?

Census Record

There are 1 million census records available for the last name Brooks. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Brooks census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search 1881 Canadian census records for Brooks

Passenger List

There are 146,000 immigration records available for the last name Brooks. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Brooks immigration records

Draft Card

There are 252,000 military records available for the last name Brooks. For the veterans among your Brooks ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Brooks military records

You've only scratched the surface of Brooks family history.

Discover More

Brooks Life Expectancy

What is the average Brooks lifespan?

Between 1940 and 2004, in the United States, Brooks life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1944, and highest in 1999. The average life expectancy for Brooks in 1940 was 43, and 73 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Brooks

An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Brooks ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.

Famous Brooks Family Ancestors

Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in your family tree

Famous ancestors img
Look up another name