Burgess

Where Burgess comes from

Burgess hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1884
    First appearance
    #971 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1890
    Peak, #884
    6 babies named Burgess — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1891
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  4. 1907
    Burgess Meredith born
    American actor
  5. 1973
    Burgess Jenkins born
    American actor
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Burgess Meredith · American actor, 1907–1997
  • Burgess Jenkins · American actor, born 1973
  • Burgess Owens · American politician and former football player, born 1951
  • Burgess Abernethy · actor, born 1987
  • Burgess Gardner · American musician, 1936–2021

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.