Burnis
A masculine name of unknown origin and uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 342 living Americans carry the first name Burnis. It is a predominantly male name (90.3% of registrations). The average person named Burnis today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burnis births was 1925 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burnis. 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 Burnis is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burnis' were born before 1965.
People living today
342
~ 1 in 1,002,206 Americans
Peak year
1925
39 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1986 SSA rank
#4,253
Tracked since 1912
Census
Burnis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 363 people with the first name Burnis, which placed it at #25,907 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
#25,907
National first-name rank
People counted
363
363 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burnis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burnis is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (36.6%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Burnis 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 Burnis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 213
- Black or African American36.6% · 133
- Two or more races3.3% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Burnis
Burnis leans heavily male at 90.3% of total registrations, but 90 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Burnis as a male name
- Ranked #6,864 in 1986
- 5 male births in 1986
- Peak: 1925 (29 births)
Burnis as a female name
- Ranked #4,253 in 1943
- 6 female births in 1943
- Peak: 1925 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burnis leans strongly male. 320 people counted with this name were male (88.4%), compared with 42 female bearers (11.6%).
Popularity
Burnis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burnis from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 221 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
Burnis 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 Burnis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Burnis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Burnis, while Missouri, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Burnis
The name Burnis is believed to have originated from the Old English word "burne," which means "a small stream or brook." The name's roots can be traced back to the early medieval period in England, where it was likely used as a descriptive name for someone living near a small stream or brook.
In the late 9th century, the name Burnis appeared in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an annual record of events in Anglo-Saxon England. This early reference suggests that the name was in use during the reign of King Alfred the Great, who ruled from 871 to 899 AD.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Burnis was a monk from the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England. Burnis the Monk lived in the late 11th century and was known for his scholarly works on religious texts and monastic history.
During the Middle Ages, the name Burnis gained prominence among the English nobility. Burnis de Montfort, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, was one of the earliest recorded bearers of the name from this era.
In the 13th century, Burnis of Bury, a renowned scholar and theologian, served as the Chancellor of the University of Oxford. His writings on theology and philosophy were widely studied and influential during his time.
Another notable figure was Burnis Longespée, a powerful English nobleman and military commander who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He played a significant role in the Third Crusade and the Barons' War against King John.
During the Renaissance period, the name Burnis appeared in various literary works. Burnis Chaucer, a distant relative of the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer, was a renowned playwright and author in 16th-century England.
Although the name Burnis has become less common in recent times, it continues to hold historical significance and a connection to its Old English roots, representing a connection to nature and the landscape of medieval England.
People
Burnis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burnis 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
Burnis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burnis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 342 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burnis 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 1,002,206 US residents.
Is Burnis a common name?
We classify Burnis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 932 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burnis most popular?
The single biggest year for Burnis was 1925, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burnis is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Burnis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 363 people with the name Burnis, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,907 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 Burnis 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 Burnis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burnis leans strongly male. 320 people counted with this name were male (88.4%), compared with 42 female bearers (11.6%). 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 Burnis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burnis is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Black (36.6%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Burnis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Burnis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (213 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 Burnis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burnis a male name?
Yes, 90.3% of people registered as Burnis 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 Burnis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burnis 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 Burnis 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 Burnis?
See how many people have the name Burnis on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.