# Burgess (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/burgess/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname transferred from the common noun.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norman |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 73,931 |
| US rank (2010) | 444 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 4,176 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (71,604 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɜːd͡ʒɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

By proprialization from burgess, which is from Anglo-Norman burgeis (“town-dweller”); more at burgess.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Burgess in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 19% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Burgess in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Canada.

## People named Burgess

- Cameron Burgess, Australian-Scottish association football player (born 1995)
- Guy Burgess, British-born radio producer, intelligence and Foreign Office officer and double agent
- Colin Burgess, Australian musician
- Ernest Burgess, American sociologist (1886–1966)
- Tituss Burgess, American actor and singer
- Michael C. Burgess, American politician
- Melvin Burgess, British children's writer
- Don Burgess, American cinematographer
- John Burgess, American political scientist (1844–1931)
- Paul Burgess, Australian pole vaulter
- Simon Burgess, Australian rower
- Jeremy Burgess, Australian motorcycle racing engineer

and 13 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Bridges, Borges, Bourgeois, Burgos, Burkes, Burgeson, Barajas, Burciaga, Borkowski, Bergquist, Borjas, Bargas.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.