The Origin of the Name


       Broadhouse is a very rare English surname. It is a topographic name meaning ‘the dweller at the large house’ from the Old English ‘brad’ meaning ’ broad or extensive’ and hus. 

       A second, less likely, suggestion for the origin of the name is that it relates to someone living in or near Broadwas in Worcestershire. This place name comes from brad + waesse 

      meaning “alluvial land”.

       Variations include Brodhouse,  Broadis(t), Brodis(t) and Broadest. Various spellings are to be found in the historical records most of which are not true variants of the name but 

       reflect local pronunciations of the name Broadhouse. They include Broadish, Broades, Brod(d)is, Broddes, Broadice, Broaddus/Broddus and Brodess.

       Broadhurst is a much more common surname in England. Again it is a topographic name meaning  "the dweller by the large wood". Variations include Brodhurst, Bradhurst,

       Broadust and Broadherst.


        Reaney & Wilson in their Dictionary of English Surnames suggest that Broadhurst and Broadhouse are separate surnames but my research suggests that the two may have a

        common origin. In early records the spelling is very varied and both can appear in the same family over time.

       The surname Broadhouse appears to have originated in Staffordshire and Worcestershire whilst the Broadis(t)/ Broades(t) variations appear to have arisen in the  Gloucestershire/ 

       Oxfordshire area of the English Cotswolds. The Brodest branch moved from Ireland to Wales and then into the Midlands but it is not clear where or when it arose.

       Broadhurst probably arose in the area around Macclesfield in Cheshire.

        Several other spellings appear in the 1881 UK census including Brodice, Brodas and Broadust but none of these have survived into the 21st century and are probably deviants

        rather than true variants. 

       Brodes and Brodas also appear in the 1881 UK census but appear only to survive now in the US. Broad(d)us appears widely in the US. 

       I have recently been alerted to a possible new variant - Behurst which is a very rare name found only in the US and appears to have arisen when Broadhurst was abbreviated

       B.Hurst in early records. Thanks to Nancy Foster who kindly sent me her data I now have information relating to the Behurst family in the US.