Burnell
Burnell was last recorded in 2022, when 5 babies were given it; 3,383 Americans have been recorded with it between 1906 and 2022 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,210 Americans named Burnell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (36% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 49 and 77.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Burnell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Burnell mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Burnell is “a male given name.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Burnell?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #12,654, in 2022; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
86 babies in 1920, the peak
Burnell peaked in 1920, when 86 babies were given it (67 boys, #819 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | under 5 | 5 | #12,654 | |
| 2020 | under 5 | 5 | #12,327 | |
| 2017 | under 5 | 5 | #12,569 | |
| 2016 | under 5 | 5 | #12,485 | |
| 2013 | under 5 | 10 | #7,610 | |
| 2011 | under 5 | 7 | #9,762 | |
| 2010 | under 5 | 7 | #9,843 | |
| 2006 | under 5 | 6 | #10,852 | |
| 2004 | under 5 | 8 | #8,238 | |
| 2003 | under 5 | 5 | #11,112 |
Every recorded year (102)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | under 5 | 5 | #10,788 | |
| 2000 | under 5 | 5 | #10,575 | |
| 1999 | under 5 | 12 | #5,347 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 12 | #5,184 | |
| 1996 | under 5 | 8 | #6,570 | |
| 1995 | under 5 | 5 | #9,037 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 13 | #4,470 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 11 | #4,907 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 11 | #4,792 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 16 | #3,618 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 15 | #3,634 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 9 | #4,830 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 10 | #4,276 | |
| 1986 | under 5 | 9 | #4,511 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 11 | #3,827 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 14 | #3,121 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 13 | #3,255 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 12 | #3,511 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 16 | #2,795 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 13 | #3,280 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 13 | #3,191 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 18 | #2,486 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 14 | #2,925 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 15 | #2,719 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 16 | #2,548 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 13 | #2,816 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 17 | #2,320 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 12 | #2,834 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 10 | #3,174 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 20 | #1,997 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 19 | #1,916 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 26 | #1,548 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 24 | #1,576 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 11 | #2,482 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 16 | #1,991 | |
| 1964 | 6 | #6,083 | 24 | #1,619 |
| 1963 | 5 | #6,692 | 16 | #2,048 |
| 1962 | under 5 | 32 | #1,388 | |
| 1961 | 5 | #6,661 | 17 | #2,000 |
| 1960 | under 5 | 31 | #1,434 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 28 | #1,504 | |
| 1958 | 5 | #6,190 | 35 | #1,304 |
| 1957 | 9 | #4,236 | 39 | #1,251 |
| 1956 | under 5 | 40 | #1,203 | |
| 1955 | 10 | #3,804 | 29 | #1,420 |
| 1954 | 8 | #4,315 | 30 | #1,383 |
| 1953 | 11 | #3,503 | 51 | #1,016 |
| 1952 | 15 | #2,826 | 49 | #1,029 |
| 1951 | 6 | #4,903 | 32 | #1,300 |
| 1950 | under 5 | 31 | #1,293 | |
| 1949 | 8 | #3,923 | 43 | #1,073 |
| 1948 | 9 | #3,620 | 43 | #1,081 |
| 1947 | 7 | #4,400 | 44 | #1,093 |
| 1946 | 6 | #4,486 | 35 | #1,178 |
| 1945 | 9 | #3,164 | 39 | #1,017 |
| 1944 | 14 | #2,416 | 38 | #1,071 |
| 1943 | 28 | #1,596 | 34 | #1,172 |
| 1942 | 16 | #2,224 | 39 | #1,096 |
| 1941 | 7 | #3,610 | 46 | #938 |
| 1940 | 11 | #2,586 | 49 | #908 |
| 1939 | 15 | #2,132 | 37 | #1,054 |
| 1938 | 12 | #2,465 | 42 | #978 |
| 1937 | 19 | #1,793 | 50 | #871 |
| 1936 | 14 | #2,166 | 41 | #973 |
| 1935 | 8 | #3,183 | 49 | #905 |
| 1934 | 10 | #2,763 | 41 | #1,007 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,710 | 56 | #827 |
| 1932 | 16 | #2,047 | 49 | #925 |
| 1931 | 19 | #1,808 | 48 | #944 |
| 1930 | 21 | #1,757 | 54 | #910 |
| 1929 | 25 | #1,559 | 52 | #932 |
| 1928 | 19 | #1,965 | 51 | #953 |
| 1927 | 7 | #3,913 | 49 | #1,002 |
| 1926 | 17 | #2,171 | 52 | #945 |
| 1925 | 22 | #1,851 | 59 | #873 |
| 1924 | 18 | #2,148 | 53 | #965 |
| 1923 | 18 | #2,097 | 56 | #916 |
| 1922 | 10 | #3,181 | 59 | #907 |
| 1921 | 18 | #2,133 | 64 | #870 |
| 1920 | 19 | #2,022 | 67 | #819 |
| 1919 | 13 | #2,532 | 44 | #1,024 |
| 1918 | 18 | #2,042 | 50 | #945 |
| 1917 | 9 | #3,128 | 44 | #984 |
| 1916 | 13 | #2,387 | 43 | #972 |
| 1915 | 6 | #3,846 | 49 | #882 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,664 | 26 | #1,129 |
| 1913 | 9 | #2,180 | 28 | #931 |
| 1912 | 5 | #3,032 | 23 | #939 |
| 1911 | under 5 | 10 | #1,124 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 9 | #1,126 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 9 | #1,033 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 5 | #1,267 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Burnell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,383 Americans recorded as Burnell, 18% are girls and 82% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Burnell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Burnell, and how old are they?
1,210 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 36% of the 3,383 Americans ever recorded as Burnell. The median Burnell alive today is 67 years old; half are between 49 and 77.
The 2020 Census counted 1,284 people named Burnell (207 women and girls, 1,077 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,476 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 222 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 501 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 226 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 164 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 66 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 30 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Burnell born?
The states with the most babies named Burnell are Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Mississippi, with 83% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Louisiana and Mississippi are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 354 | not ranked | 5.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 213 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Mississippi | 97 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Illinois | 26 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Georgia | 18 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Minnesota | 15 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| South Dakota | 14 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Virginia | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Wisconsin | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Ohio | 6 | not ranked | 0.0× |
Where Burnell is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Burnell is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 5.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Burnell with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Burnell
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Burnell and names like it
- Compare Burnell and MerrellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sBurnell peaked in 1920.
- Louisiana’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Burnell since 1910.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Burnell.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Burnell alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.