Surname evolution... could Bryan/Brian become Brant?

[GenesA]

The name Brant first appears in my tree in 1731 when my x7 great grandmother Sarah Brant was baptised in Tettenhall. I've traced this family to Robert and Elizabeth Brant of Blymhill who were having children from the late 1670s onwards. Robert Brant died in 1714 and the only entries for Brant in Blymhill PRs were Robert and Elizabeth and their children.

On 27 December 1655, a Robert Brian, son of John and Sarah, was baptised at Blymhill. A tree on A***y also has my Robert's parents as John and Sarah Brian. Is it plausible that Brian turn into Brant within one generation? 

[Annie65115]

Briant is a likely variation of Brian. Have you seen the register entries? If so, do you think that it does indeed say Brant, or is their a letter i tucked in there?

[GenesA]

I haven’t seen images, only transcriptions. Robert and Elizabeth had a daughter named Cicely Brant (b.1685) and it appears that Robert Bryan had an aunt called Cicely Bryan (b.1628). Similar family names but no idea if it’s the same family.

[BumbleB]

Image of Sarah's baptism at Tettenhall - definitely Brant.

[GenesA]

Thanks, BumbleB. Maybe Brian/Bryan was pronounced Bryant, it’s hard to know how the family pronounced it when relying on parish register entries.

[Andrew Tarr]

I think 'evolution' is the wrong word to apply to names at the time you mention.  Few people could read or write, and the only 'standard' spelling was in Latin.  Scribes tried to write what they heard, so what got recorded would depend on the speaker.  As literacy grew, names tended not to evolve, as their owners became attached to them, so many variants were 'fossilised'.

My tree includes a family in east Somerset which changed from Allard to Allwood.  I can just about imagine a West Country accent somewhere between those two spellings.

[chris_49]

I've come across lots of variants like this. See the Skelcher/Skelcey thread to see how one name mutated from the former to the latter, one branch eventually becoming Kelsey. Stanley sometimes acquires a D - Standley. Some Lynes are not related to me because they were originally Lyons, mine were not in recorded history. The name Gyde was originally pronounced  "Jyde" according to some records, now it is always "Guide". Nothing surprises me any more.

Forenames also get confusing transcriptions - I've seen Phobe for Phoebe, Lousie for Louiise, and Sibly (transcribed Silly!) for Sybil. These three rival the Bristolian girls Evil, Idle and Normal!
 

[BumbleB]

My apologies for this BUT:

If you have conducted your own research into your family, why are you now appearing to think that an Ancestry tree knows better?  Luckily FindMyPast do have Blymhill and Tettenhall parish registers available to search.

[Kiltpin]

it’s hard to know how the family pronounced it when relying on parish register entries.

 

About 50 years ago an old couple lived next door to my aunt. The wife would only answer to Mrs On Eye On. 

Everybody else called her Mrs Onion! 

Regards 

Chas