Burritt last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Burritt

A toponymic surname derived from a place name likely referring to an English location.

Burritt, 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 Burritt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Burritt in America

Burritt is the 22749th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Burritt surname appeared 1,126 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 Burritt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Burritt 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 22749 23072 -1.41%
Count 1,126 1,034 8.52%
Proportion per 100k 0.38 0.38 0.00%

The history of the last name Burritt

The surname Burritt originated in England and can be traced back to the late 12th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words 'burh' meaning a fortified town or hill, and 'hryth' meaning a stream or small river. This suggests that the name was likely given to someone who lived near a fortified town along a stream or river.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1195, which mentions a William Buret. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 also list a Hugo de Burhunte in Oxfordshire. These early spellings such as Buret and Burhunte highlight the variations in the name's spelling over time.

The Burritt name has been found in various historical records throughout the centuries. In the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk from 1327, a John Buryt is mentioned. The Hearth Tax Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1665 list a Thomas Burrett, while the Protestation Returns of 1641-1642 include a William Burritt from Leicestershire.

Notable individuals with the surname Burritt include Elihu Burritt (1810-1879), an American philanthropist and linguist known as the "Learned Blacksmith." He was a prominent advocate for world peace and universal brotherhood. Another notable figure was Alfred Andrews Burritt (1833-1894), an American educator and author who served as the president of the University of Minnesota from 1869 to 1884.

In the literary world, William Hubbard Burritt (1844-1923) was an American writer and editor who published several books on travel and adventure. Robert Hale Ives Burritt (1835-1892) was a Canadian Anglican priest and educator who served as the principal of Huron College in London, Ontario.

The name Burritt has also been associated with certain place names, such as Burritt's Rapids in Ontario, Canada, which was named after the Burritt family who settled in the area in the early 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Burritt

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

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 Burritt was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 93.07% 1,048
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.15% 13
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.13% 24
Hispanic Origin 2.66% 30

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 Burritt has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 93.07% 97.00% -4.14%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.15% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.97% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.13% 0.97% 74.84%
Hispanic 2.66% 0.48% 138.85%

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

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

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"Burritt last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 11, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/burritt-surname-popularity/.

"Burritt last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/burritt-surname-popularity/. Accessed 11 July, 2025

Burritt last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/burritt-surname-popularity/.

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