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The burgess Surname

burgess Name Meaning and History

English and Scottish: status name from Middle English burge(i)s, Old French burgeis ‘inhabitant and (usually) freeman of a (fortified) town’ (see Burke), especially one with municipal rights and duties. Burgesses generally had tenure of land or buildings from a landlord by burgage. In medieval England burgage involved the payment of a fixed money rent (as opposed to payment in kind); in Scotland it involved payment in service, guarding the town. The -eis ending is from Latin -ensis (modern English -ese as in Portuguese). Compare Burger.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The burgess name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the burgess family name as far back in history as possible.

burgess Family Facts

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Distribution of burgess Families in the US in 1920
Number of burgess families
 255-507
 86-254		 1-85
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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