Family name origins & meanings
- French (Brûlé) : topographic name for someone living in a place cleared for use by burning, from Old French brusle ‘burnt’, past participle of brusler ‘to burn’. Some instances of the name may derive from the same word used with reference to disfigurement by burning, either accidentally or as a medieval ordeal or punishment. Compare Brent 3.
- Étienne Brûlé, from the Marne region of France, was with Samuel de Champlain as an interpreter for the Hurons in 1608–10 expedition to North America; he is credited with the discovery by Europeans of Lake Superior.