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

Burkman, 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 Burkman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Burkman in America

Burkman is the 26067th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Burkman surname appeared 940 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Burkman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Burkman 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 Burkman

The surname Burkman is of German origin, first recorded in the late 15th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "burk" or "burc", meaning "a fortified town or castle". The name likely originated from a location where the first bearers lived or worked, perhaps in or near a castle or walled town.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Germanisches Namenbuch, a historical record of German names, which mentions a "Johannes Burkman" living in the town of Erfurt in 1492. The name was also recorded in various church records and tax rolls throughout the 16th and 17th centuries in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland.

In the early 18th century, the name appears in the records of German immigrants to the American colonies. One notable bearer was Johann Christoph Burkman, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 and settled in the region that is now Berks County. His descendants went on to establish themselves as farmers and tradesmen in the area.

Throughout the 19th century, the Burkman name continued to spread across Europe and North America. Notable individuals included Wilhelm Burkman (1810-1888), a German journalist and author who wrote extensively on German culture and history, and Charles Burkman (1845-1921), an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Burkman Textile Company in New England.

Other notable figures include:

1. Friedrich Burkman (1855-1932), a German-born American architect who designed several significant buildings in Chicago and the Midwest.
2. Helene Burkman (1878-1961), a German-born American opera singer who performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
3. Otto Burkman (1891-1967), an Austrian-born American artist known for his landscape paintings of the American West.
4. Gerhard Burkman (1923-2001), a German-born American physicist who made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics.
5. Erika Burkman (born 1964), a German-born American writer and academic, noted for her works on German literature and culture.

While the Burkman name has its roots in medieval Germany, it has since spread across the world and can be found among people of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, a testament to the far-reaching influence of German migration and culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Burkman

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

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 Burkman 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 Burkman 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 Burkman was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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