Burt
A diminutive form of ancient Germanic names like Bertram or Bertrand.
Name Census estimates that about 3,297 living Americans carry the first name Burt. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Burt today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Burt births was 1956 (152 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Burt. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Burt with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 103,959 Americans
Peak year
1956
152 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,986
Tracked since 1880
Census
Burt in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,895 people with the first name Burt, which placed it at #4,684 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
#4,684
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,895 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Burt
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burt is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Burt 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 Burt at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.0% · 2,998
- Black or African American8.1% · 316
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 238
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 170
- Two or more races2.6% · 101
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 72
Popularity
Burt: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Burt from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,238 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Burt 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 Burt during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Burts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Burt, while Oregon, Missouri, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Burt
The name Burt is a masculine given name of Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the Old English word "beorht," meaning "bright" or "shining." It is closely related to the Old German name "Berthold," which also means "bright" or "brilliant."
The name Burt has been in use since the early medieval period in England, and it is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive name for a person with a bright or radiant personality or appearance. Some scholars also suggest that the name may have been used to describe someone with fair or blonde hair.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Burt can be found in the Domesday Book, a famous manuscript compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The book lists several individuals with the name Burt, indicating that the name was already in widespread use in England by the late 11th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Burt. One of the earliest was Burt of Glastonbury, an English monk who lived in the 12th century and wrote a chronicle of the history of the Abbey of Glastonbury. Another early bearer of the name was Burt de Vallée, a French nobleman who participated in the Third Crusade in the late 12th century.
In more recent times, the name Burt has been associated with several famous individuals, including:
1. Burt Lancaster (1913-1994), an American actor and producer who was known for his roles in films such as "From Here to Eternity" and "Elmer Gantry."
2. Burt Reynolds (1936-2018), an American actor who rose to fame in the 1970s and starred in movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Boogie Nights."
3. Burt Bacharach (1928-2023), an American composer and songwriter who wrote numerous popular hits, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."
4. Burt Rutan (born 1943), an American aerospace engineer and maverick designer who is known for his innovative aircraft designs, including the Voyager, the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without refueling.
5. Burt Gummer (fictional character), the protagonist of the "Tremors" film franchise, played by Michael Gross, and known for his expertise in hunting and battling underground monsters.
While the name Burt has declined in popularity in recent decades, it remains a recognizable and respected name with a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in the English-speaking world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Burt
People
Burt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Burt 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
Burt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Burt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,297 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Burt 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 103,959 US residents.
Is Burt a common name?
We classify Burt as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,555 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Burt most popular?
The single biggest year for Burt was 1956, when 152 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Burt is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Burt in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,895 people with the name Burt, or 1.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,684 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 Burt 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 Burt?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Burt appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,889 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Burt?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Burt is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Burt most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Burt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (2,998 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 Burt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Burt a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Burt 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 Burt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Burt 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 Burt 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 Burt as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Burt on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.