Burdette
A masculine French name derived from "burde" meaning "little cabin".
Name Census estimates that about 407 living Americans carry the first name Burdette. It is a predominantly male name (93.1% of registrations). The average person named Burdette today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burdette births was 1920 (76 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burdette. 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 Burdette is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burdettes were born before 1960.
People living today
407
~ 1 in 842,148 Americans
Peak year
1920
76 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1979 SSA rank
#5,442
Tracked since 1885
Census
Burdette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 537 people with the first name Burdette, which placed it at #19,615 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
#19,615
National first-name rank
People counted
537
537 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burdette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burdette is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.2%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Burdette 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 Burdette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.3% · 458
- Black or African American10.2% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 7
- Two or more races1.1% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Burdette
Burdette leans heavily male at 93.1% of total registrations, but 127 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Burdette as a male name
- Ranked #5,442 in 1979
- 6 male births in 1979
- Peak: 1922 (74 births)
Burdette as a female name
- Ranked #6,351 in 1959
- 5 female births in 1959
- Peak: 1920 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burdette leans strongly male. 447 people counted with this name were male (82.5%), compared with 95 female bearers (17.5%).
Popularity
Burdette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burdette from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 543 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
Burdette 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 Burdette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Burdettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska recorded the most babies named Burdette, while Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Burdette
The name Burdette has its origins in the French language, derived from the word "burd," which means "trickster" or "jester." It is believed to have originated in the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century, when court jesters and entertainers were a common sight in the courts of European nobility.
During the Middle Ages, the name Burdette was likely associated with individuals who possessed a witty and entertaining personality, or who worked as jesters, minstrels, or performers. It was a name that carried a connotation of humor and mischief, reflecting the role these individuals played in the courts of kings and nobles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Burdette can be found in the historical records of the city of Amiens in northern France, where a man named Burdette le Jongleur (Burdette the Juggler) is mentioned in a document from the year 1287. This suggests that the name was in use during this time period and was associated with the profession of entertainment.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Burdette. One such person was Burdette Loomis (1891-1971), an American journalist and author who wrote for publications such as Harper's Magazine and The New York Times. Another was Burdette Haldane (1917-2007), a British actor and playwright, known for his work in television and theatre.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded examples of the name Burdette was Burdette Green Hibbard (1825-1890), a Baptist minister and educator who served as the president of the University of Lewisburg, now known as Bucknell University, from 1858 to 1867.
Another notable American with the name Burdette was Burdette Kemler (1888-1968), a professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox between 1911 and 1920.
Finally, Burdette Britt (1922-2009) was an American politician who served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981, and later as a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1981 to 1989.
While the name Burdette may not be as common today as it once was, its unique history and origins add to its charm and character, reflecting a time when jesters and entertainers played a significant role in the cultural life of medieval Europe.
People
Burdette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burdette 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
Burdette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burdette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 407 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burdette 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 842,148 US residents.
Is Burdette a common name?
We classify Burdette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,841 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burdette most popular?
The single biggest year for Burdette was 1920, when 76 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burdette is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Burdette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 537 people with the name Burdette, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,615 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 Burdette 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 Burdette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burdette leans strongly male. 447 people counted with this name were male (82.5%), compared with 95 female bearers (17.5%). 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 Burdette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burdette is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.2%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Burdette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Burdette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.3% (458 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 Burdette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burdette a male name?
Yes, 93.1% of people registered as Burdette 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 Burdette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burdette 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 Burdette 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 many people have Burdette as a first name?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Burdette at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.