Burke
Masculine · “of the fortress”
Burke is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,118 boys against 70 girls since 1880.
Burke is a fortified place — the Germanic burg, which gives borough, burgher and bourgeois.
How old is the name Burke?
Burke first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Burke alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 3,200 people named Burke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Burke most popular?
Burke peaked in 1881, reaching #781 nationally. Today it ranks #2641, 1,860 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Burke appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From burh to Burke
The story of Burke
The de Burghs came to Ireland with the Norman invasion and became the Burkes, one of the great Hiberno-Norman families. Burh gives borough, burgher and bourgeois — the townsman, defined by living inside walls. Edmund Burke wrote on the French Revolution. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
of the fortress, of the borough
From the Middle English burc or the Old English burh, 'fortified place', through the Norman de Burgh. The same root gives borough, burgher, bourgeois and the German Burg. The Norman de Burgh family became the Irish Burkes. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- burh
- de Burgh
- Burke
Related forms: de Búrca · Burg
Pronouncing Burke
BURK
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Burke
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 201378 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #781reached in 1881
- Change vs 2023
- −7.5%49 in 2025, from 53
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Burke in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- de Búrca in Irish — related form
- Burg in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Nebraska, Utah, Minnesota.
Burkes among us
people named Burke are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 34,859 born in 2025 was named Burke
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Burke sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Burke is headed
Burke is easing off slowly — about 20% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Burke beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Burke in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That borough, burgher and bourgeois all come from the same word is a first-rate etymology.
- Edmund Burke is a first-rate bearer.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- A notorious nineteenth-century murderer gave English the verb 'to burke'.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
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What they receive
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Burke
Masculine · #2641 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Burkes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Burke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Burke in 2025?
- Burke ranks #2641 among US boy names in 2025, with 49 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Burke?
- About 1 in every 34,859 US boys born in 2025 was named Burke — 49 in all.
- Will my child share the name Burke with classmates?
- Burke will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Burke
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Keylor#2641 · Ely#2641 · Daelyn#2641 · Judge#2641 · Kato#2641 · Herbert#2641 · Giacomo#2641 · Kaycee#2641
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Burke? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Burke and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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