2000
#1,946
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,972
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.29
Uncommon Last name
Burrows
From an English place name referring to a person who lived by a hill, mound, or burial place.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 19,043 Americans carry the last name Burrows. That puts it at #2,118 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.56 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 17,999 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Burrows 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 Burrows with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
19K
1 in 17,999
Census rank
#2,118
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
17K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,606 bearers of the surname Burrows in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.56 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2118th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Burrows, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Burrows
The surname Burrows has its origins in England, with the earliest recorded use dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English word "burg," meaning a fortified town or dwelling place, and the word "hyll," meaning a hill. The name likely referred to someone who lived near or on a fortified hill or hillock.
The name is found in various early records and documents, including the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, which list individuals with the surname Burrows, or similar spellings such as Burghes or Burghys. The Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, does not contain the exact spelling "Burrows," but it does include names like "Burges" and "Borges," which may be related.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Burrows was John Burrows, who was mentioned in the Patent Rolls of 1324 as a merchant from the city of Bristol. Another early bearer of the name was Robert Burrows, a landowner from Cheshire, whose name appears in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1392.
During the Middle Ages, the name Burrows was often associated with place names, particularly those derived from the Old English words "burg" and "hyll." For example, the village of Burrough in Leicestershire and the town of Burrough Green in Cambridgeshire may have given rise to the surname.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Burrows. One of the earliest was Sir John Burrows (c. 1564-1641), an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Ipswich and was a prominent figure during the reign of King Charles I.
Another notable bearer of the name was Reuben Burrows (1592-1648), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1644 to 1645.
In the 18th century, William Burrows (1785-1813) was a British naval officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars and was killed in action during the Battle of Campeche Bay in 1813.
During the 19th century, George Burrows (1801-1887) was an English physician and writer who made significant contributions to the study of diseases of the brain and nervous system.
More recently, the American mathematician and computer scientist George W. Burrows (1917-2019) is known for his work in data compression and for co-inventing the Burrows-Wheeler transform, an algorithm used in data compression techniques.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burrows
Among Census respondents with the surname Burrows, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Burrows 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 Burrows surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.8% · 13,425
- Black or African American9.5% · 1,575
- Two or more races4.4% · 730
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 579
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 161
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 136
Timeline
Historical Census data for Burrows
Burrows 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
#2,085
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,355
+383 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 5.88
Rank movement Down 139 places
2020
#2,118
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,606
-749 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 5.56
Rank movement Down 33 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,946 | 16,972 | 6.29 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,085 | 17,355 | 5.88 | +383 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 139 places |
| 2020 | #2,118 | 16,606 | 5.56 | -749 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 33 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 Burrows 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 | #2,085 | #2,118 | -1.6% |
| Count | 17,355 | 16,606 | -4.3% |
| Per 100K | 5.88 | 5.56 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Burrows bearers went from 17,355 to 16,606 (-4.3% change). The surname moved down 33 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,085 to #2,118.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Burrows
FAQ
Burrows surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Burrows?
Name Census estimates that about 19,043 living Americans carry the surname Burrows. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 17,999 residents.
How common is Burrows?
Burrows ranks #2,118 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.56 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,606 people with the surname Burrows. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (19,043), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.56 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.56 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Burrows.
Has Burrows become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Burrows went from 17,355 recorded bearers to 16,606. That is a decrease of 749 (-4.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,085 to #2,118.
What does the Census say about the background of Burrows?
Among Census respondents with the surname Burrows, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.8%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Burrows in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.8% (13,425 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Burrows appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.8%), Black (9.5%), Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Burrows (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 Burrows mean?
From an English place name referring to a person who lived by a hill, mound, or burial place. 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 Burrows (5.56 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 people have the surname Burrows?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.