Brow Family History

English: either a descriptive nickname for someone with bushy or otherwise distinctive eyebrows from Middle English broue ‘eyebrow eyelid forehead’ (Old English brū) but more likely a topographic name for someone who lived at the brow of a hill from a transferred use of the same word; surnames of the type de la Browe are recorded from the end of the 13th century. Altered form of French Brault and also of American French Breaux . Compare Bro and Broe . Americanized form of Dutch Brouw: perhaps a nominal variant of Op den Brouw a habitational name for someone living at the ‘Brouw’ a toponym of unclear origin or just a place for beer brewing (Brouw being a shortened form of brouwen ‘to brew’ or brouwer ‘brewer’).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022