Find out how popular the last name Bourne is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bourne.

Bourne, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bourne surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bourne in America

Bourne is the 3823rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bourne surname appeared 9,270 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Bourne.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bourne to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bourne

The surname Bourne is an English toponymic name originating from various places in England, such as Bourne in Lincolnshire, Bourne End in Buckinghamshire, and other locations with names derived from the Old English word "burna," meaning a stream or small river.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 13th century. One of the earliest known bearers was Walter de Burne, who was mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1260. Another early record is that of Reginald atte Bourne, found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1327.

The Bourne surname is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, as it is a relatively modern name derived from place names that emerged later in the medieval period. However, the name is closely associated with the town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, which was known as "Burna" in the Domesday survey.

Notable historical figures with the surname Bourne include Sir John Bourne (1584-1659), an English royalist and politician who served as Secretary of State during the reign of King Charles I. Another prominent individual was Benjamin Bourne (1755-1808), an English Methodist minister and writer who published several influential works on theology and education.

In the United States, Sheba Bourne (1840-1870) was a prominent African American educator and activist who worked tirelessly for the advancement of education for Black children in the post-Civil War era. William Oland Bourne (1819-1901) was an American inventor and engineer known for his contributions to the development of the modern typewriter and the first successful typographic line-casting machine.

Additionally, Hugh Bourne (1772-1852) was a prominent English Methodist minister and co-founder of the Primitive Methodist Church, a significant religious movement in the early 19th century.

Throughout history, the Bourne surname has been associated with various place names and has undergone slight spelling variations, such as Borne, Bourn, and Burn, reflecting the regional dialects and linguistic changes over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bourne

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bourne.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bourne was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bourne has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bourne was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bourne, please contact us.

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