Burnita
A feminine name derived from Spanish, meaning "little dark one" or "little brunette".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Burnita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Burnita today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burnita births was 1923 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burnita. 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 Burnita is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Burnitas were born before 1962.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Burnita. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1923
9 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1958 SSA rank
#6,194
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Burnita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burnita from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Burnita remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Burnita 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 Burnita 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 Burnita
The name Burnita is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the Old English word "burna," meaning "stream" or "small river." It likely emerged as a name during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, between the 5th and 11th centuries AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Burnita can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings in England completed in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The entry mentions a woman named Burnita who owned a small plot of land in the county of Oxfordshire.
In the 12th century, a Benedictine nun named Burnita is mentioned in the chronicles of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England. She is said to have been a skilled scribe and illuminator of manuscripts.
During the Middle Ages, the name Burnita was occasionally bestowed upon women born near streams or rivers, reflecting the name's connection to water. However, it remained a relatively uncommon name throughout this period.
In the 16th century, a woman named Burnita Woodville was known for her involvement in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York over the English throne. She was a supporter of the Yorkist cause and was briefly imprisoned for her actions.
Another notable figure with the name Burnita was the 17th-century English poet and playwright, Burnita Philips. She was born in 1609 and is remembered for her translations of several works by the French dramatist Pierre Corneille.
In the 18th century, Burnita Montagu, born in 1720, was a prominent British socialite and patron of the arts. Her London salon was frequented by many of the era's leading intellectuals and writers, including Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke.
While the name Burnita has never been widespread, it has maintained a consistent, if modest, presence throughout English history. Its connection to nature and its distinctive sound have likely contributed to its enduring appeal as a feminine given name.
People
Burnita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burnita 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
Burnita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burnita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burnita 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Burnita a common name?
We classify Burnita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burnita most popular?
The single biggest year for Burnita was 1923, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burnita is about 74 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 Burnita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burnita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Burnita 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 Burnita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burnita 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 Burnita 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 are called Burnita?
Find out how many Americans are named Burnita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.