brill

Origin

* As an English surname, from Brill in Buckinghamshire, said to be from Proto-Brythonic *breɣ (“hill”) + Old English hyll (“hill”). * As a Dutch and north German surname, from Middle Low German brul (“low wetland”). Compare the variant Bruehl. * Also as a German surname, from the noun Brille (“eyeglasses”). * As a Jewish surname, from a Hebrew acronym of בן רבי (ben rabi, “son of rabbi”) followed by a Yiddish personal name, such as "Ben Rabbi Yehuda Levi".