How common is the surname Burnham?

15,775 people in the United States had the surname Burnham in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,572 Americans. It ranked 2,315th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Burnham?

Bo Burnham, American comedian, followed by Daniel Burnham.

Where is the surname Burnham most common?

Wikidata records people named Burnham in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Burnham?

Burnham is /ˈbɝnəm/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Burnham getting more or less common?

More common. 15,299 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,775 in 2010, up 3.1%.

The surname Burnham

An English place surname, carried by 15,775 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈbɝnəm/ 2 syllables Soundex B655

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Burnham is more common than 98.6% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English burna (“stream”) + hām (“homestead”) or hamm (“water meadow”).

Burnham is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 15,775 people named Burnham in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 19,572 Americans. That is up 3.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 15,299.

#2,315

rank among US surnames

15,775

people in 2010

5.3

per 100,000 Americans

+3.1%

change since 2000 (was #2,179)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,306	Jolly	15,827	19,508
#2,307	Stauffer	15,821	19,515
#2,308	Goodson	15,820	19,516
#2,309	Boston	15,814	19,524
#2,310	Scruggs	15,808	19,531
#2,311	Giron	15,786	19,558
#2,313	McCloud	15,783	19,562

Who is named Burnham

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Burnham identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Burnhams

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Bo Burnham
American comedian, born 1990
Daniel Burnham
American architect and urban designer (1846– 1912)
Sherburne Wesley Burnham
American astronomer (1838–1921)
James Burnham
American philosopher (1905–1987)
Kevin Burnham
American sailor (1956–2020)
Robert Burnham, Jr.
American astronomer (1931–1993)
Henry E. Burnham
American politician (1844–1917)
Andrew Burnham
British bishop (born 1948)

Notable Burnhams come mostly from the United States (7) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Burnam

Surnames that sound like Burnham

Burnham has the Soundex code B655, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B655.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Burnham come from?: From Old English burna (“stream”) + hām (“homestead”) or hamm (“water meadow”).
How common is the surname Burnham?: 15,775 people in the United States had the surname Burnham in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,572 Americans. It ranked 2,315th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Burnham?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Burnham identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Burnham?: Bo Burnham, American comedian, followed by Daniel Burnham.
Where is the surname Burnham most common?: Wikidata records people named Burnham in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Burnham?: Burnham is /ˈbɝnəm/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Burnham?: Burnham is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Burnham getting more or less common?: More common. 15,299 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,775 in 2010, up 3.1%.
What are other spellings of Burnham?: Burnam.