Burt
Masculine · “bright”
Burt sits between two families: the Germanic beraht names that mean bright, and the English place name Burton. American records carry it as the short form of both, and the spelling with a u leans toward the second.
How old is the name Burt?
Burt was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Burt alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 3,100 people named Burt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Burt most popular?
Burt peaked in 1880, reaching #258 nationally. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From burh + tun to Burt
The story of Burt
Burton is a place name repeated across England and became a common surname; it crossed into American given-name use in the nineteenth century and produced Burt as its clipping. Separately, the Germanic beraht names produced Bert. The two short forms sound identical and their spellings drifted together in American registers, where Burt peaked around 1920.
Meaningscholars disagree
bright; fortified farmstead
Read as a spelling of Bert, the meaning is the Germanic beraht, 'bright', the element that ends Albert, Herbert and Robert. Read as a clipping of Burton, it is the Old English burh, 'fort', and tun, 'farmstead'. The u spelling is generally the Burton one and the e spelling the Germanic one, though families used both freely.
How the name formed
- burh + tun
- Burton
- Burt
Related forms: Bert · Burton · Bert
Pronouncing Burt
BURT
One syllable. Burt and Bert are homophones; only the spelling distinguishes them.
Nicknames for Burt
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1954141 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #258reached in 1880
- Change vs 2003
- 0.0%6 in 2017, from 6
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.
Burt in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bert in English — spelling variant
- Burton in English — related form
- Bert in German — related form
Burts among us
people named Burt are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Burt has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Two quite different formal names can stand behind it, so the choice stays open.
- One syllable, plain, and never mispronounced.
- Burton is available as a longer form with a documented place-name history.
- Burt and Bert are indistinguishable in speech and both are established.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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Burt
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Burts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Burt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Burt in 2025?
- Burt is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Burt with classmates?
- Burt will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Burt? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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