Burnie
Diminutive form of the name Bernard, derived from the Germanic name "Bernhard" meaning "brave bear".
Name Census estimates that about 311 living Americans carry the first name Burnie. It is a predominantly male name (93.4% of registrations). The average person named Burnie today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burnie births was 1918 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burnie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Burnie is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burnies were born before 1964.
People living today
311
~ 1 in 1,102,104 Americans
Peak year
1918
29 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1988 SSA rank
#5,320
Tracked since 1888
Census
Burnie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 361 people with the first name Burnie, which placed it at #26,014 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#26,014
National first-name rank
People counted
361
361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burnie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burnie is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (29.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Burnie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Burnie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.4% · 229
- Black or African American29.1% · 105
- Two or more races3.6% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Burnie
Burnie leans heavily male at 93.4% of total registrations, but 62 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Burnie as a male name
- Ranked #7,424 in 1988
- 5 male births in 1988
- Peak: 1916 (26 births)
Burnie as a female name
- Ranked #5,320 in 1949
- 5 female births in 1949
- Peak: 1915 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burnie leans strongly male. 306 people counted with this name were male (86.4%), compared with 48 female bearers (13.6%).
Popularity
Burnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burnie from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 207 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Burnie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Burnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Burnies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Burnie, while South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Burnie
The name Burnie is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, where it was likely a derivative or diminutive form of the name Burnhard or Burnard. These names are thought to be derived from the Old English words "burne" meaning a stream or brook, and "hard" meaning brave or hardy, suggesting the name may have originally been given to someone who lived near a stream or was known for their bravery.
During the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries, the name Burnie or its variations may have been in use, though records from this time are scarce. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, where a person named "Burnardus" is listed as a landowner in Gloucestershire.
In the Middle Ages, the name Burnie was likely used primarily in England and other parts of the British Isles, though its popularity and usage may have varied depending on the region and time period. One notable historical figure bearing the name was Sir Burnell Walter (c. 1275-1344), an English lawyer and judge who served as Chief Baron of the Exchequer during the reign of King Edward III.
As the centuries progressed, the name Burnie seems to have waned in popularity, but it still appeared occasionally throughout history. One example is Burnie Richardson (1791-1868), a British-born merchant and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada (now Ontario, Canada) in the early 19th century.
Another historical figure with the name was Burnie Williamson (1894-1976), an American baseball player who spent several seasons in the Major Leagues, primarily with the Boston Red Sox, during the 1920s and 1930s. While not a superstar, he had a respectable career as a utility player and was known for his defensive skills.
In more recent times, one of the most notable individuals with the name Burnie was Burnie Burnette (1920-2016), an American actor and comedian who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout his career, often playing supporting roles or serving as a comic relief character.
It is worth noting that while the name Burnie has its roots in Old English and has been used throughout history, it has never been an extremely common name, particularly in more modern times. However, its unique sound and origins have ensured that it has maintained a place, albeit a modest one, in the realm of English-language given names.
People
Burnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burnie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Burnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 311 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burnie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,102,104 US residents.
Is Burnie a common name?
We classify Burnie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 938 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Burnie was 1918, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burnie is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Burnie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 361 people with the name Burnie, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,014 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Burnie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Burnie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burnie leans strongly male. 306 people counted with this name were male (86.4%), compared with 48 female bearers (13.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Burnie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burnie is White at 63.4%. The next largest groups are Black (29.1%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Burnie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Burnie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.4% (229 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Burnie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burnie a male name?
Yes, 93.4% of people registered as Burnie in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Burnie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burnie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Burnie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Burnie?
See how many Americans are named Burnie on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.