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

Burma, 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 Burma surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Burma in America

Burma is the 88685th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Burma surname appeared 209 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 Burma.

We can also compare 2010 data for Burma 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 Burma

The surname BURMA is believed to have originated from the region now known as Myanmar, formerly called Burma. It is thought to have derived from the Burmese language, which is part of the Lolo-Burmese branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Bagan inscription, an 11th-century stone inscription from the Bagan Kingdom, which mentions a person named "Burman". This suggests that the name was in use in the region during that time period.

In the 16th century, the Portuguese explorer Gaspar da Cruz referred to the inhabitants of the region as "Burmas" in his writings. This indicates that the name was associated with the geographical area and its people.

The name BURMA may also be related to the Burmese city of Bagan, which was a major center of Buddhist culture and the capital of the Bagan Kingdom from the 9th to the 13th centuries. It is possible that the name originated from this city or the surrounding region.

One notable individual with the surname BURMA was U Ba Pe Burma (1897-1971), a Burmese politician and diplomat who served as the first Prime Minister of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1937 to 1939.

Another prominent figure was U Thant Burma (1909-1974), a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving from 1961 to 1971.

In the literary world, Mya Than Tint Burma (1929-2005) was a renowned Burmese writer and poet who received numerous awards for his works.

In the field of sports, Myo Zaw Burma (1970-) is a former Burmese footballer who played as a striker for the Myanmar national team and various clubs in Myanmar and Thailand.

Lastly, Maung Maung Aye Burma (1936-2020) was a Burmese military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Burma from 2007 to 2011.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Burma

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

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

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

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