As with most names, a variety of spellings abound in early records, and the IGI distinguishes similar names to Breakwell according to the first three letters, i.e. it lists under Breakwell: Breckwell, Breekwell, Breakewell, Breackwell, etc., while listing separately under Brackwell names such as Bracwell, Brakwell, Brachewell, Brakewell, Brakewel and Brakeswell. While it seems likely the names Brackwell and Breakwell have separate origins, one would expect phonetically that Brakewell would be equivalent to Breakwell, and indeed the geographical distribution of the names confirms this.

In my analysis of the distribution of the name, I have therefore included Brakewell and very similar names with Breakwell, while excluding names which would be pronounced as Brackwell.

'Dictionary of Surnames' (Oxford University Press) by Patrick Hanks & Flavia Hodges gives the following derivation of the name 'Breakwell': "English: apparently a habitation name from some unidentified minor place (probably in the West Midlands where the surname is commonest). The etymology is unclear. The second element is almost certainly Old English, 'well' meaning a spring or stream, but the first can not be established without placename evidence". 'Dictionary of English Surnames (Oxford University Press) by Reaney & Wilson does not list the name 'Breakwell'. Neither source lists the name 'Brecknock'.

I am indebted to a fellow researcher of Breakwell and student of Welsh history, Jeff Erwin, for the following ideas on the derivation of the name 'Brecknock'. There's a medieval Welsh Christian name that is like "Brochfael", pronounced Broochvail, which may be the origin of Breakwell (at least near Wales). Brecknock comes from Brycheiniog, a district now called Brecknockshire or Breconshire. A Brochfael or Brochwel was a chieftain of Merionydd (Merionethshire) in the 7th century AD. Another, Brochfael ap Meurig, was king of Gwent in the 9th c. Brochfael ab Elisedd was king of Powys in the 8th century. He was the founder of the house of Powys which lasted to the 14th century (de la Pole). It seems likely that the last mentioned is the origin of the name and the Breckwells/Brecknocks, like most old Welsh families, claimed they were descendants of a noble line (albeit much decayed). Brecon/Brecknock is on the periphery of Powys (Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and parts of Denbighshire). Brochfael wasn't used as a personal name much later than the 11th century.

Once obvious duplications are excluded, there are 562 occurrences of Breakwell and derivatives in the IGI (as downloaded from the Web, November 1999) for the British Isles, distributed geographically and by century as follows:

Apart from a postulated birth entry (which is derived from a subsequent marriage, and so should be disregarded), there are no Breakwell entries in the IGI for Shropshire prior to 1741.

There are just 4 entries in the British Isles IGI derived from parish registers prior to 1741: the baptism of John Breckwell in Shinfield, Berkshire, in 1679, the baptisms of Mary and Susanna Breckwell in Bromyard, Herefordshire, in 1717 and 1718 (daughters of William Breckwell & Martha), and the baptism of Henry Brekwell in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1731.

The 1679 baptism looks a bit of a "rogue" one-off entry as there are no more for 38 years and this is the only Breakwell in the whole IGI for Berkshire. The two baptisms in Bromyard are interesting as this is close to the subsequent South Shropshire heartland, though they pre-date the Shropshire onset by 24 years. The 1731 entry in Wigan could be a mis-spelling of Brackwell, as next entry for Lancashire derived from a parish register is 53 years later.

Most of the very early Shropshire Breakwell entries are actually spelt Breckwell, adding further evidence to the derivation from Brecknock. While it is thought that the Worcestershire and Warwickshire families derive from the Shropshire Breakwells by migration, it is notable that there are Breckwells in Kidderminster between 1751 and 1764, though there are then very few occurrences in the county until after 1812.

The incidence of Breakwell entries in the Shropshire IGI (fiche) is as follows:

Once obvious duplications are excluded, there are 531 occurrences of Brecknock and derivatives in the IGI for the British Isles, distributed geographically and by century as follows:

The 15^th century entries are birth and marriage entries made by Mormon researchers other than from parish registers and relate to a Margaret Brecknock of Herefordshire and Warwickshire (4 entries) and a Sibilla Brecknock of Oxfordshire.

The above analysis strongly indicates that the name is heavily Shropshire based in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, leading one to suppose that it originated either in that county or across the border in Wales. What is particularly interesting about the temporal distribution in Shropshire is the extent to which it virtually disappears in the mid-18^th century. Apart from one family in Alveley (5 entries) in the 1760s and a baptism in 1809, there are no instances of the name in the IGI for Shropshire after the 1740s, which coincides precisely with the rise of the name Breakwell in Shropshire.

The name Brackwell and its derivatives (Bracwell, Brakwell, etc.) appear earlier than Breakwell or Brecknock, but never become very widespread. Once obvious duplications are excluded, there are 58 occurrences in the IGI for the British Isles, distributed geographically and by century as follows:

A further series of similar names, but excluding the "W" are listed together in the IGI and include such derivatives as Brickill, Brickell, Brickhill, Breakell, Breikell, Breakell, Breakel, and Breckell. These names are very firmly of Lancashire origin and are much more common than Breakwell and derivatives. In view of the large number of entries in the IGI, I have only analysed those with forename starting with 'A', of which (after eliminating obvious duplications) there are 439. Of these 439, 312 are in Lancashire, 26 in Cheshire, 25 in Dorset, 17 in London and 59 elsewhere, of which only 1 is in Shropshire.