# Burroughs (surname)

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

An English topographical surname from Middle English, from Old English beorg (“hill”) or burg (“fort”), for someone who lived near a hill or fort.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 17,336 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,087 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 17,810 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.8% (16,702 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Burrough, Burrow, Burrowes, Burrows |

## Who carries it

Share of people named Burroughs 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) | 68% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 26% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Burroughs in the United States.

## People named Burroughs

- Edgar Rice Burroughs, American writer (1875–1950)
- William S. Burroughs, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer (1914–
- John Burroughs, American naturalist and essayist (1837-1921)
- Jordan Burroughs, American wrestler (born 1988)
- William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman (1857–1898)
- Augusten Burroughs, American writer
- Nannie Helen Burroughs, American activist (1879–1961)
- Sean Burroughs, American baseball player (1980–2024)
- William S. Burroughs Jr., American writer (1947–1981)
- Tim Burroughs, American basketball player (born 1969)
- Bryson Burroughs, American painter and art historian (1869–1934)

## Similar surnames

Burris, Burrows, Burress, Burrus, Burruss, Burriss, Burch, Burge, Bürg, Brough, Burrage, Burrough.

## 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.