NameCensus.

UK surname

Burns

An occupational surname referring to someone who burned charcoal or worked as a baker or brick burner.

In the 1881 census there were 20,128 people recorded with the Burns surname, ranking it #186 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 36,140, ranked #141, up from #186 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Govan Combination, Gateshead and Edinburgh. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Copeland and Carntyne West and Haghill.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Burns is 36,391 in 2010. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 79.6%.

1881 census count

20,128

Ranked #186

Modern count

36,140

2016, ranked #141

Peak year

2010

36,391 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Burns had 20,128 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #186 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 36,140 in 2016, ranked #141.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 23,579 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Burns surname distribution map

The map shows where the Burns surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Burns surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Burns over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 9,171 #289
1861 historical 11,306 #217
1881 historical 20,128 #186
1891 historical 20,097 #193
1901 historical 23,579 #197
1911 historical 16,651 #288
1997 modern 33,682 #146
1998 modern 34,740 #147
1999 modern 35,032 #148
2000 modern 34,807 #150
2001 modern 33,898 #150
2002 modern 34,763 #149
2003 modern 33,954 #148
2004 modern 33,996 #148
2005 modern 33,637 #147
2006 modern 33,904 #147
2007 modern 34,338 #146
2008 modern 34,638 #146
2009 modern 35,604 #145
2010 modern 36,391 #144
2011 modern 35,888 #144
2012 modern 35,085 #145
2013 modern 35,777 #145
2014 modern 36,224 #143
2015 modern 36,107 #143
2016 modern 36,140 #141

Geography

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Where Burns' are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Govan Combination, Gateshead, Edinburgh, Manchester and Dundee, Liff, Benvie and Invergowry. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Copeland and Carntyne West and Haghill. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Govan Combination Lanark
2 Gateshead Durham
3 Edinburgh Edinburgh
4 Manchester Lancashire
5 Dundee, Liff, Benvie and Invergowry Forfar

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Copeland 005 Copeland
2 Copeland 003 Copeland
3 Copeland 004 Copeland
4 Copeland 002 Copeland
5 Carntyne West and Haghill Glasgow City

Forenames

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First names often paired with Burns

These lists show first names that appear often with the Burns surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Burns

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Burns, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce

Group

Established but Challenged

Nationally, the Burns surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established but Challenged, within Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce. This does not mean every Burns household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many households in these neighbourhoods comprise separated or divorced single parents with dependent children. Residents are typically born in the UK, and these neighbourhoods have relatively few members of ethnic minorities. The prevalence of children, their parents and those at or above normal retirement age, suggests neighbourhood structures may be long-established. Levels of unpaid care are high, and long-term disability is more common than in the Supergroup as a whole. Use of the social rented sector is common, often in terraced houses. Levels of overcrowding are above the Supergroup average. Unemployment is high, while those in work are employed in elementary occupations such as caring, leisure and customer services. Many residents have low level qualifications. Neighbourhood concentrations of this Group are found in the South Wales Valleys, Belfast, Londonderry and the Central Lowlands of Scotland.

Wider pattern

Living in terraced or semi-detached houses, residents of these neighbourhoods typically lack high levels of education and work in elementary or routine service occupations. Unemployment is above average. Residents are predominantly born in the UK, and residents are also predominantly from ethnic minorities. Social (but not private sector) rented sector housing is common. This Supergroup is found throughout the UK’s conurbations and industrial regions but is also an integral part of smaller towns.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Burns is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Burns is most concentrated in decile 1 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the less healthy end of the index.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

1
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Burns falls in decile 1 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

1
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Burns is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Burns, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

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.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Burns families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Burns surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Lancashire leads with 4,886 Burns' recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.10x.

County Total Index
Lancashire 4,886 2.10x
Lanarkshire 2,608 4.11x
Yorkshire 1,320 0.68x
Durham 1,295 2.22x
Middlesex 1,085 0.55x
Cumberland 811 4.80x
Midlothian 630 2.40x
Renfrewshire 594 3.91x
Cheshire 583 1.35x
Northumberland 552 1.89x
Ayrshire 531 3.62x
Staffordshire 523 0.79x
Angus 397 2.18x
Warwickshire 287 0.58x
Surrey 285 0.30x
Stirlingshire 281 3.88x
Kent 218 0.33x
Dunbartonshire 216 4.10x
Glamorgan 177 0.52x
Perthshire 177 2.01x
East Lothian 167 6.43x
Hampshire 160 0.40x
Fife 158 1.36x
Devon 155 0.38x
Derbyshire 154 0.50x
Essex 105 0.27x
Worcestershire 98 0.38x
Aberdeenshire 97 0.53x
Gloucestershire 89 0.23x
Roxburghshire 87 2.45x
Cornwall 83 0.37x
Sussex 80 0.24x
Nottinghamshire 72 0.27x
Westmorland 61 1.42x
Wigtownshire 61 2.34x
Berwickshire 60 2.53x
Dumfriesshire 60 1.38x
Kirkcudbrightshire 58 2.04x
West Lothian 58 1.96x
Leicestershire 47 0.22x
Lincolnshire 47 0.15x
Inverness-shire 43 0.73x
Monmouthshire 43 0.30x
Somerset 41 0.13x
Selkirkshire 39 2.20x
Argyllshire 35 0.64x
Shropshire 35 0.21x
Peeblesshire 34 3.69x
Berkshire 31 0.21x
Isle of Man 27 0.74x
Royal Navy 27 1.16x
Banffshire 23 0.57x
Pembrokeshire 22 0.35x
Flintshire 20 0.38x
Clackmannanshire 19 1.17x
Suffolk 17 0.07x
Wiltshire 17 0.10x
Herefordshire 16 0.20x
Brecknockshire 15 0.38x
Buteshire 14 1.18x
Denbighshire 14 0.19x
Ross-shire 14 0.26x
Anglesey 13 0.37x
Norfolk 13 0.04x
Bedfordshire 12 0.12x
Channel Islands 12 0.21x
Hertfordshire 12 0.09x
Carmarthenshire 10 0.12x
Northamptonshire 9 0.05x
Kinross-shire 7 1.41x
Morayshire 7 0.23x
Buckinghamshire 6 0.05x
Caithness 6 0.22x
Cambridgeshire 6 0.05x
Dorset 6 0.05x
Kincardineshire 5 0.21x
Merionethshire 4 0.11x
Nairnshire 4 0.67x
Oxfordshire 3 0.02x
Caernarfonshire 2 0.03x
Orkney 2 0.09x
Sutherland 2 0.13x
Cardiganshire 1 0.02x
Huntingdonshire 1 0.03x
Montgomeryshire 1 0.02x
Radnorshire 1 0.06x
Rutland 1 0.07x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Liverpool in Lancashire leads with 846 Burns' recorded in 1881 and an index of 5.99x.

Place Total Index
Liverpool 846 5.99x
Barony 606 3.77x
Glasgow 538 4.78x
Manchester 496 4.74x
Govan 487 3.10x
Toxteth Park 274 3.48x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 228 2.16x
Cleator 222 31.59x
Birmingham 200 1.21x
Salford 182 2.66x
Old Monkland 169 6.71x
Birkenhead 167 4.84x
Dundee 167 2.46x
Everton 167 2.25x
Hulme 144 2.96x
Chorlton On Medlock 141 3.81x
Gateshead 129 2.95x
Leeds 127 1.16x
Pendleton In Salford 125 4.51x
Hedworth Monkton Jarrow 121 4.79x
West Derby 119 1.75x
Widnes 115 6.85x
St Pancras London 112 0.71x
Abbey 111 4.79x
Kilsyth 105 22.77x
Hamilton 104 5.88x
Stockton On Tees 104 3.70x
New Monkland 103 5.49x
Heworth 100 8.70x
Stockport 100 4.49x
Arlecdon 98 21.82x
Blackburn 97 1.57x
Liff Benvie 97 3.52x
Oldham 92 1.22x
Bishopwearmouth 90 1.80x
Bothwell 90 5.23x
West Greenock 89 3.26x
Kirkdale 87 2.22x
Wigan 87 2.68x
Ashton Under Lyne 86 1.69x
Middlesbrough 86 3.40x
Bootle Cum Linacre 83 4.49x
South Leith 83 2.81x
Warrington 83 3.01x
Islington London 79 0.42x
Lambeth 75 0.44x
Preston 70 1.12x
Elswick 69 2.96x
Falkirk 69 4.07x
Barrow In Furness 68 2.15x
Westoe 68 2.06x
Workington 66 6.83x
Stoke Damerel 65 2.27x
St Marylebone London 64 0.61x
Whitehaven 64 7.11x
Blantyre 63 9.54x
East Greenock 63 4.39x
Ulverston 63 9.29x
Wolverhampton 63 1.24x
Bury 62 2.33x
Bradford 61 1.30x
Dalserf 58 9.16x
Walsall Foreign 58 1.70x
Bonhill 54 6.38x
Dukinfield 54 2.70x
Maryhill 54 4.35x
Sheffield 53 0.86x
Kilmarnock 52 2.98x
Gorton 51 2.33x
Bradford 49 4.50x
Egremont 49 12.17x
Wednesbury 49 2.96x
Bethnal Green London 48 0.56x
Dewsbury 48 2.41x
Westgate 48 2.66x
Shoreditch London 47 0.55x
Walton On Hill 47 3.73x
Cardross 46 7.27x
Dalton In Furness 46 5.12x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 45 1.32x
Broughton In Salford 45 2.11x
Colton 44 36.27x
Great Bolton 44 1.43x
Paisley High Church 44 3.64x
Portsea 44 0.56x
St George In East London 44 2.39x
Wallsend 44 4.75x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Burns surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 1,374
Elizabeth 467
Margaret 435
Ann 343
Sarah 335
Catherine 318
Ellen 270
Jane 244
Annie 196
Bridget 193
Alice 150
Eliza 108
Hannah 93
Kate 88
Emma 82
Isabella 80
Agnes 79
Martha 74
Maria 72
Emily 66
Julia 59
Charlotte 50
Rose 50
Anne 47
Louisa 41
Susan 39
Harriet 36
Frances 32
Ada 31
Fanny 31
Lucy 31
Caroline 30
Matilda 29
Edith 27
Esther 26
Eleanor 25
Elizth. 25
Jessie 25
Margt. 25
Rebecca 24
Florence 22
Susannah 21
Winifred 21
Lizzie 20
Margret 20
Catharine 18
Clara 17
Minnie 16
Sophia 16
Barbara 15

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Burns surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
John 1,111
James 788
Thomas 690
William 623
Patrick 274
Robert 244
Edward 226
Michael 223
George 201
Joseph 188
Henry 142
Peter 138
Charles 125
Richard 82
Arthur 80
Alfred 69
Francis 67
Hugh 61
Daniel 58
David 55
Martin 52
Samuel 45
Andrew 41
Thos. 40
Frederick 39
Christopher 36
Matthew 36
Wm. 35
Walter 33
Albert 27
Bernard 27
Harry 26
Benjamin 24
Owen 24
Timothy 22
Alexander 21
Stephen 21
Frank 20
Jno. 19
Dennis 17
Lawrence 17
Luke 16
Anthony 15
Herbert 15
Jas. 15
Laurence 13
Mathew 13
Robt. 12
Archibald 10
Ernest 10

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Burns households.

FAQ

Burns surname: questions and answers

How common was the Burns surname in 1881?

In 1881, 20,128 people were recorded with the Burns surname. That placed it at #186 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Burns surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 36,140 in 2016. That gives Burns a modern rank of #141.

What does the Burns surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to someone who burned charcoal or worked as a baker or brick burner.

What does the Burns map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Burns bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.