2000
#141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 162,153
First available Census row
Per 100,000 60.11
Common Last name
Burns
An occupational surname referring to someone who burned charcoal or worked as a baker or brick burner.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 182,457 Americans carry the last name Burns. That puts it at #162 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 53.23 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,879 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Burns surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Burns with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
182K
1 in 1,879
Census rank
#162
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
53.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
159K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 159,111 bearers of the surname Burns in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 53.23 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 162nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Burns, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Burns
The surname Burns is of Scottish origin, derived from the Old English word "burna" meaning a stream or brook. It is believed to have emerged as a surname in the 12th century, referring to people who lived near a stream or brook.
Originally, the name was found in various forms such as Burn, Burne, Burnes, and Burnys. The earliest recorded instance of the name is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "de Burna" and refers to a location in Lincolnshire, England.
In Scotland, the surname Burns is particularly associated with the Ayrshire region, where the famous poet Robert Burns was born in 1759. Burns is considered the national poet of Scotland and his works, such as "Auld Lang Syne" and "Scots Wha Hae," have become cultural icons.
Another notable bearer of the surname was Walter Burns (1776-1853), a Scottish merchant and co-founder of the Cunard Steamship Company. The company played a significant role in establishing regular transatlantic steam navigation.
In the United States, the surname Burns has been present since the early colonial period. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Thomas Burns, who was born in England around 1645 and settled in Virginia.
The Burns family has also produced several notable figures, including Ken Burns (born 1953), an American filmmaker known for his documentaries on various historical subjects, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953), an American author best known for her novel "The Yearling," for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939.
Throughout history, the surname Burns has been associated with various place names, such as Burnside, Burnsall, and Burnham, reflecting the original meaning of the name as related to streams or brooks.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burns
Among Census respondents with the surname Burns, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Burns bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Burns surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.4% · 123,197
- Black or African American13.9% · 22,057
- Two or more races3.9% · 6,188
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 5,404
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,135
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1,130
Timeline
Historical Census data for Burns
Burns appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#155
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 165,925
+3,772 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 56.25
Rank movement Down 14 places
2020
#162
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 159,111
-6,814 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 53.23
Rank movement Down 7 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #141 | 162,153 | 60.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #155 | 165,925 | 56.25 | +3,772 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 14 places |
| 2020 | #162 | 159,111 | 53.23 | -6,814 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 7 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Burns surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #155 | #162 | -4.5% |
| Count | 165,925 | 159,111 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 56.25 | 53.23 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Burns bearers went from 165,925 to 159,111 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 7 positions in the national ranking, going from #155 to #162.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Burns
FAQ
Burns surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Burns?
Name Census estimates that about 182,457 living Americans carry the surname Burns. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,879 residents.
How common is Burns?
Burns ranks #162 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 53.23 per 100,000 residents, which is about 53 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 159,111 people with the surname Burns. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (182,457), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 53.23 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 53.23 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 53 of them to have the surname Burns.
Has Burns become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Burns went from 165,925 recorded bearers to 159,111. That is a decrease of 6,814 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #155 to #162.
What does the Census say about the background of Burns?
Among Census respondents with the surname Burns, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Burns in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.4% (123,197 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Burns appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (77.4%), Black (13.9%), Two or More Races (3.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Burns (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Burns mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who burned charcoal or worked as a baker or brick burner. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Burns (53.23 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Burns?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.