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The burr Surname

burr Name Meaning and History

  1. English: of uncertain origin. Reaney explains this as a nickname for a person who is difficult to shake off, from Middle English bur(r) ‘bur’ (a seedhead that sticks to clothing). Burre occurs as a surname or byname as early as 1185, but the vocabulary word is not recorded in OED until the 14th century. Another possibility is derivation from Old English bur ‘small dwelling or building’ (modern English bower), but there are phonological difficulties here too.
  2. German: perhaps a variant spelling of Bur, or a topographic name from Burr(e) ‘mound’, ‘hill’, or in the south a variant of Burrer.

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

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

burr Family Facts

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Distribution of burr Families in the US in 1920
Number of burr families
 211-419
 71-210		 1-70
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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