» For a list of articles see Brent (disambiguation) 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 ei… (More on Brent)