144 Global BERRILL Family Members

BERRILL Family History

This unusual and interesting surname recorded in many spellings (see below) is medieval English but of pre 10th century French origins. It is a diminutive of the Olde French "bouvre", and describes a short haired coarse wooven reddish-brown cloth worn by monks and friars in the main, and probably associated with the famous Flemish Weavers of the period. Thus, the name is either an occupational name for a worker in the wollen trade, possibly a wool carder, or alternatively it describes a person who habitually dressed in clothes of this colour.