Brontë
/ˈbrɒnti/noun
A surname most famously associated with the nineteenth-century English novelists Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë.
Did you know?Patrick Brunty changed the family name to Brontë, probably inspired by Horatio Nelson’s title as Duke of Bronte in Sicily, adding the diaeresis to signal the final vowel was pronounced separately.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European (proposed)
PIE
*brem-
“A reconstructed root associated with roaring, booming, or making a loud noise; its connection to Greek brontē is probable but not certain.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
βροντή (brontḗ)
“Thunder; the booming sound of a storm.”
Classical and Medieval Latin
Latin
brontē
“Thunder, especially in learned or scientific compounds.”
18th Century
Irish English
Brunty / Prunty
“Anglicized forms of the Irish family surname Ó Proinntigh.”
1802
English
Brontë
“The spelling adopted by Patrick Brunty, likely recalling Nelson’s Sicilian title, the Duke of Bronte.”
19th Century
English
Brontë
“The literary family surname of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë.”
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