Frequency: (35486)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: habitational name from a place name that is very common in central and northern England. The derivation in most cases is from Old English burh ‘fort’ (see Burke) + tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
