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Burns Family History

Burns Surname Meaning

Scottish (central Scotland and northern England): habitational name from any of various places called formerly Burnis Burnes or Burnhouse (named with burn- ‘stream’) especially those in Kincardineshire Renfrewshire Dunbartonshire and possibly Argyll.

English and Scottish: variant either of Burn with post-medieval excrescent -s or of Barnes.

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Broin (see Byrne) with excrescent -s.

American shortened and altered form of Jewish Bernstein.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Burns family from?

You can see how Burns families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Burns family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Burns families were found in USA in 1880. In 1911 there were 1,842 Burns families living in Ontario. This was about 47% of all the recorded Burns's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Burns families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Burns surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Burns ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Stenographer were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Burns. 30% of Burns men worked as a Farmer and 12% of Burns women worked as a Stenographer. Some less common occupations for Americans named Burns were Clerk and Teacher.

View Census Data for Burns | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    30%
  • Labourer
    11%
  • Laborer
    6%
  • Clerk
    4%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • Stenographer
    12%
  • Housekeeper
    10%
  • Student
    8%
  • Teacher
    7%

What Burns family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 1 million census records available for the last name Burns. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Burns census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Burns

Passenger Lists

There are 150,000 immigration records available for the last name Burns. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Burns immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 216,000 military records available for the last name Burns. For the veterans among your Burns ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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