The goal of the Briese surname project is to identify common ancestors of people sharing the Briese and similar surnames including Brese, Brise, Briesse, Breese, Breesa etc. Polish variations of the name include Bryze, Bryza etc.  During the 18th and 19th centuries, families with the Briese surname were frequently found in West Prussia, Pomerania and Posen.  During the 19th century, many families from these areas emigrated to North America, Australia and Brazil. Testing of y-DNA can determine whether, and how, these families were related to each other and to Briese families remaining in Germany.