Burdett
An English masculine name meaning "of the fortified place".
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Burdett. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Burdett today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burdett births was 1923 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burdett. 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 Burdett is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burdetts were born before 1950.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Burdett. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
1923
16 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1962 SSA rank
#3,683
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Burdett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burdett from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 83 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
Burdett 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 Burdett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Burdett
The name Burdett is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "burh" meaning "fortified town" and "geat" meaning "gate." It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who lived near or worked at the town gate. The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century, when surnames began to develop in England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Burdett can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086. This comprehensive record of landowners in England at the time mentions several individuals with the surname Burdett or variations like Burdet or Burdit. This suggests that the name was already established by the late 11th century.
The name Burdett gained prominence during the medieval period with the rise of the Burdett family, a noble English family with estates in Warwickshire and Derbyshire. Notable members of this family include Sir Robert Burdett (c. 1144-1194), a prominent landowner and supporter of King Richard I, and Sir Francis Burdett (1770-1844), a leading English radical politician and reformer known for his advocacy of parliamentary reform and civil liberties.
Another historical figure with the name Burdett was Thomas Burdett (c. 1515-1585), an English clergyman and theologian who served as the Bishop of Salisbury from 1579 until his death. He played a role in the religious reforms of the Elizabethan era and was known for his support of Protestantism.
In the 17th century, Sir Robert Burdett (1640-1716) was an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Warwickshire. He was a notable supporter of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which established parliamentary sovereignty and the constitutional monarchy in England.
Another notable figure with the name Burdett was George Burdett (1768-1844), an English artist and engraver known for his landscape paintings and engravings of English scenery. He was a member of the Royal Academy and contributed to the rise of British landscape art in the early 19th century.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Burdett, demonstrating its long-standing presence in English history and culture.
People
Burdett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burdett 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
Burdett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burdett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burdett 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Burdett a common name?
We classify Burdett as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 240 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burdett most popular?
The single biggest year for Burdett was 1923, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burdett is about 86 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Burdett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burdett a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Burdett 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 Burdett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burdett 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 Burdett 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Burdett?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.