Brantley

Brantley is the transferred use of an English surname either derived from a nickname or a place name. In Old High German, “brant” means “firebrand” and could have been bestowed as a sobriquet on a person with a fiery temper. It could have also referred to a topographical location signifying an area that had burned down or was charred from fire. Alternately, in Olde English the word “brant” meant “steep, tall” and “lēah” meant “meadow, clearing” and so could have developed as a surname for a person who dwelled in a high meadow. Lastly, the male name Brant is thought to be derived from “Brandr”, an Old Norse nickname meaning “sword”. In which case the name could have been brought to England by way of Viking raiders and ancient Scandinavian settlers. It’s not a super common surname or forename so the information we were able to collect is minimal and uncertain. As a given masculine name Brantley has only come into usage recently and restricted almost entirely to the United States.