Burnard
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "brown bear".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Burnard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Burnard today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burnard births was 1925 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burnard. 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 Burnard is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burnards were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Burnard. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
1925
16 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1960 SSA rank
#3,709
Tracked since 1912
Census
Burnard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 122 people with the first name Burnard, which placed it at #49,985 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
#49,985
National first-name rank
People counted
122
122 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burnard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burnard is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Burnard 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 Burnard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.6% · 69
- Black or African American36.1% · 44
- Two or more races3.3% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 2
Popularity
Burnard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burnard from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 121 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
Burnard 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 Burnard 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 Burnard
The name Burnard is an English given name derived from the Old English words "burne" meaning "stream" and "heard" meaning "brave" or "hardy." It is believed to have originated in Anglo-Saxon England, likely during the 8th to 11th centuries.
The earliest known reference to the name Burnard can be found in the Domesday Book, a medieval census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. There, it is recorded as a personal name among the landowners and freemen of various counties in England.
In the 12th century, a Burnard de Hamslape was recorded as a witness to a charter granted by King Henry II. This is one of the earliest documented uses of the name in historical records.
During the Middle Ages, the name Burnard appeared occasionally in various English chronicles and records. One notable bearer was Burnard de Arundel, a 13th-century English nobleman and crusader who participated in the Seventh Crusade led by King Louis IX of France.
In the 16th century, a Burnard Gilpin was a renowned English reformer, preacher, and author who lived from 1517 to 1583. He played a significant role in the English Reformation and was known for his charitable works and advocacy for the poor.
Another historical figure with the name Burnard was Burnard van Loon, a Dutch artist and engraver who lived from 1592 to 1661. He was known for his intricate etchings and engravings, particularly his depictions of landscapes and architectural scenes.
In the 19th century, Burnard Doherty was an Irish-American soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.
While not as common as some other English names, Burnard has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in England and other parts of the British Isles. Its origins and meaning have endured as a reflection of the Anglo-Saxon heritage and linguistic roots of the English language.
People
Burnard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burnard 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
Burnard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burnard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burnard 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Burnard a common name?
We classify Burnard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burnard most popular?
The single biggest year for Burnard was 1925, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burnard is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Burnard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 122 people with the name Burnard, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,985 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 Burnard 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 Burnard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burnard leans strongly male. 113 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 4 female bearers (3.4%). 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 Burnard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burnard is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Burnard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Burnard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.6% (69 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 Burnard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burnard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Burnard 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 Burnard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burnard 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 Burnard 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 common is the name Burnard?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.