History of the Westbrook Surname

History of the Westbrook Surname

The English surname "Westbrook" is local in origin, being one of those names derived from the place where a person once lived or owned land. In this case, it is derived from the place name "Westbrook" of which there places so named in Berkshire, Devon, and Kent. The place name means "western brook" or "west of the brook" and thus would describe the position of the village or parish in relation to the brook. The surname simply denotes one whose place of residence Westbrook was.

Early instances of the name include a reference to Reginald de Westbroc in the Feel of Fines for Kent in 1255 and John de Westbroke in the Subsidy Rolls for Cambridgeshire in 1327. Edmund Westbrook appears in the Feel of Fines for Essex in 1440 while one Mark Westbrooke, of Surrey, was registered at the University of Oxford in 1584. There are over twenty-thousand bearers of the name in the United States today.

Description of the coat-of arms is as follows:

Gules, a leopard’s face jessant-de-lis, or. The background color gules (red) signifies military fortitude and magnanimity. The leopard (or = gold) represents a brave and courageous warrior who takes risks in the pursuit of his goal. An armed leg couped above the knee, proper purfled or (studded with gold), spur of the last. The leg symbolizes strength, stability and expedition.