Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Brenand(e) 1325 RN 1343,1423 MinAcct 1636 WillY

• Breanande 1592 ib

• Brennon feild nuck 1594 Comm

• Bremand 1652 ParlSurv

• Bremand brooke, Bremand tarne 1652 ib

• Brennand 1817 M

• Brennand Tarn 1771 M

Etymology

Brennand Fell, Brennand Ho, Brennand River & Brennand Tarn, Brenand (e )1325 RN, 1343, 1423MinAcct , 1636 WillY, Breanande 1592 ib, Brennon feild nuck 1594Comm , Bremand 1652ParlSurv , Bremand brooke , Bremand tarne 1652 ib, Brennand 1817 M, Brennand Tarn 1771 M. This is from ON  brennandi 'the burning one', pres.part. of brenna (v. -ande ), but there is some doubt as to which feature it originally referred. There are great moors all around this valley and such a descriptive name might accord with a burning moor. But, as Ekwall (RN 51) points out, this substantival use of the pres.part. is very common in Norw r.ns. and would favour the name being first applied to the river. The exact significance of 'burning' in reference to r.ns. like this or Norw  Brenna , Brennelven or Elda (from ON  eldr 'fire') is obscure; Rygh (RN 22, 40) tentatively suggests 'burning cold', but the figure may be more visual, 'flashing like a fire' or 'raging like a fire'; cf. also Brunt Sike 264infra .