Brent
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:''For a list of articles see [[Brent (disambiguation)]]''
{{Infobox Given Name Revised
| name = Brent
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| gender = Male
| meaning = Celtic words for ''Holy one''
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'''Brent''' is an English place name and surname. The place name can be from Celtic words meaning "holy one" (if it refers to the [[River Brent]]), or "high place," literally, "from a steep hill" (if it refers to the villages in Somerset and Devon, England) (Mills 1991). The surname often indicates that one's ancestors lived in a place called Brent, but it can also come from the Middle English word ''brent'' meaning burned, indicating that one's ancestor either lived near a burned-over area, or was a criminal who had been branded on the cheek (Hanks and Hodges 1988).
Brent has also become a regularly used given name, being among the thousand most common names for boys born in the United States since 1933. [http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/] When used as a given name today, Brent is sometimes a short form of [[Brenton]], but this was probably not the original inspiration for Brent's use as a given name, since Brenton's own regular use as a first name came many years after Brent was established in that role (Evans 2006).
==References==
* Evans, C. K. (2006). ''The great big book of baby names.'' Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Limited. ISBN 1-4127-1300-5.
* Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. (1988). ''A dictionary of surnames.'' New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211592-8.
* Mills, A. D. (1991). ''A dictionary of English place-names.'' New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869156-4.
==Famous Brents==
* [http://www.brentcsutoras.com/ Brent Csutoras]
* [http://www.brentbarrett.com/ Brent Varrett]
[[Category:English surnames]]
[[Category:Given names]]
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