Burna
Of unknown origin, potentially meaning "bright" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Burna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Burna today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burna births was 1935 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burna. 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 Burna is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burnas were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Burna. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
1935
9 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1956 SSA rank
#6,048
Tracked since 1916
Census
Burna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 127 people with the first name Burna, which placed it at #49,170 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
#49,170
National first-name rank
People counted
127
127 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burna is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.7%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Burna 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 Burna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.5% · 68
- Black or African American30.7% · 39
- Two or more races5.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 4
Popularity
Burna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burna from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 38 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Burna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Burna 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 Burna 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 Burna
The name Burna has its origins in the ancient Etruscan civilization, which flourished in what is now known as central Italy between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE. The name is believed to be derived from the Etruscan word "burna," meaning "stone" or "rock." This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with strength, durability, and earthly elements.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Burna can be found in an Etruscan funerary inscription from the 6th century BCE, which mentions a person with this name. However, the significance or status of this individual is not entirely clear from the limited historical records.
During the Roman period, the name Burna continued to be used, although it was relatively uncommon. One notable individual bearing this name was Burna Salvius, a Roman senator who lived in the 1st century CE. Salvius was known for his involvement in local politics and his support for the emperor Vespasian.
In the Middle Ages, the name Burna resurfaced in various regions of Europe, albeit with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. One prominent figure was Burna of Malmedy, a Frankish abbot who lived in the 7th century CE and played a significant role in the establishment of monasteries in the region that is now Belgium.
During the Renaissance period, the name Burna gained some popularity in Italy, possibly due to its Etruscan roots. One notable bearer of this name was Burna Sforza, a noblewoman from the powerful Sforza family, who lived in the 15th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in the cultural and political life of Milan.
In more recent times, the name Burna has been relatively rare, but there have been a few noteworthy individuals who carried it. One example is Burna Cassin, an influential French lawyer and jurist who played a significant role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the late 1940s.
Throughout its long history, the name Burna has maintained a sense of strength and resilience, reflecting its ancient origins and the enduring legacy of the Etruscan civilization.
People
Burna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burna 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
Burna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burna 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Burna a common name?
We classify Burna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burna most popular?
The single biggest year for Burna was 1935, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burna is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Burna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 127 people with the name Burna, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,170 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 Burna 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 Burna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burna leans strongly female. 118 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 4 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Burna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burna is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.7%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Burna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Burna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.5% (68 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 Burna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Burna in the SSA data are female. 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 Burna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burna 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 Burna 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 the name Burna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.