Buruk
A masculine Turkish name meaning "wrinkled" or "rough".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Buruk. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Buruk today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Buruk births was 2020 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Buruk. 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 Buruk with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Buruk. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2020
7 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2020 SSA rank
#9,728
Tracked since 2014
Popularity
Buruk: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Buruk from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 7 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Buruk 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 Buruk 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 Buruk
The name Buruk originates from the Old Turkic language, spoken by various Turkic ethnic groups in Central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe during the medieval period. It is derived from the word "buruk," which means "twisted" or "crooked" in Old Turkic.
In ancient Turkic cultures, names often reflected physical characteristics, personal traits, or aspirations for the child. The name Buruk may have been given to a child with a distinctive physical trait, such as a twisted or crooked limb, or it could have symbolized a desire for the child to have a strong, resilient character.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Buruk dates back to the 8th century CE. It appears in the Orkhon inscriptions, a collection of ancient Turkic runic inscriptions found in Mongolia, which are considered some of the oldest extant texts written in the Old Turkic language.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Buruk. One of the most famous was Buruk Khazar (c. 820–890 CE), a renowned Khazar military commander and statesman who played a crucial role in defending the Khazar Khaganate against invasions from the Byzantine Empire and the Rus' people.
Another notable figure was Buruk Al-Hafiz (c. 1050–1120 CE), a renowned Arabic scholar and poet from Baghdad who was known for his mastery of the Qur'an and his contributions to Islamic literature.
In the 13th century, Buruk Noyan (c. 1210–1259 CE) was a prominent Mongol military leader and trusted advisor to Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China. He played a pivotal role in the Mongol conquest of China and the establishment of the Yuan Empire.
During the Ottoman Empire, Buruk Pasha (c. 1450–1512 CE) was a celebrated military commander and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Bayezid II.
In the 16th century, Buruk Agha (c. 1520–1585 CE) was a renowned Ottoman architect and engineer who contributed to the construction of several iconic structures in Istanbul, including the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Şehzade Mosque.
While the name Buruk may have evolved and taken on different meanings and connotations over time, its origins can be traced back to the rich cultural heritage of the ancient Turkic peoples and their nomadic traditions in Central Asia.
People
Buruk + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Buruk 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
Buruk: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Buruk?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Buruk 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Buruk a common name?
We classify Buruk as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Buruk most popular?
The single biggest year for Buruk was 2020, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Buruk is about 8 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 Buruk in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Buruk a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Buruk 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 Buruk still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Buruk 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 Buruk 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 common is the name Buruk?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Buruk at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.