This uncommon name is of Old Scandinavian origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place called Brumby in Lincolnshire (now in Humberside), near Scunthorpe. The place is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Brunebi"; in the Lincolnshire Charter Rolls of 1271 as "Brunneby"; and in the "Inquisitions" of 1340 as "Brouneby"; it is so called from the Old Norse or Old Danish personal name "Bruni", originally a byname meaning "Brown", and referring to the colour of a person's hair or skin, with the Old Norse, Old Danish "by(r)", homestead, village. The latter element is common in placenames in those parts of England where Scandinavians settled, particularly the northern counties of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire. Locational surnames were used chiefly as a means of identification by those former inhabitants of a place who settled in another area; regional dialectal differences frequently gave rise to variant forms of the original name, in this instance Brumby, Bromby, Broumby and Bramby. Examples of the name from Lincolnshire Church Registers include the recordings of the christening of Oliver, son of William Bromby and Margarett Betton, at Roxby cum Risby, on July 10th 1600. The family Coat of Arms is quarterly, per fesse indented red and gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Katherine Brombey, which was dated May 16th 1557, marriage to Thomas Smythe, in Bunny, Nottinghamshire, during the reign of Queen Mary 1, known as "Bloody Mary", 1553 - 1558. 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.

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