Name Awesome

Burke

#2,649 in 2025Boys' name

Fortress

Burke has been given to 4,188 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #2,649 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2013, with 78 recorded.

Babies named Burke, 2025

1 in 67,700

Burke over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Burke: meaning, origin, and history

Fortress

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Burke means

Burke means “fortress”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,118 boys were recorded with the name Burke between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 78 in 2013; its best national rank was #798 in 1881.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,116 in 2020 to #2,649 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,279 in 2015 to #2,649 in 2025.

In the United States, 70 girls were recorded with the name Burke between 1999 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 10 in 2017; its best national rank was #10,101 in 2017.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Burke?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 67,700
49 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 34,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,649
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
46,897 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Burke sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 46,897 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Burke. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Burkes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Burke was born before 1982 — so the typical Burke is around 43 today.

Median birth year
1982
About 43 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
15.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
36.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,277
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 15.5% of all recorded uses (637).

Is Burke rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+575
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−533
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−370
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.84×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
62.8%
Peak was 2013 (78)
Years since peak
12
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
13.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#798
1881

Spellings of Burke

Burke is not the most common spelling — Luke is, with 58.4% against Burke's 0.74%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Burke is used

Across 1910–2025, Burke was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 12,500 boys, against 1 in 220,901 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

08 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 12,500
  2. 2Nebraska1 in 20,000
  3. 3California1 in 100,000
  4. 4Minnesota1 in 100,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 100,000
  6. 6Colorado1 in —
  7. 7Georgia1 in —
  8. 8Illinois1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Burke has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Burke around the world

Where Burke ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,698
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1968–2005
    #643
    in 2005

Popularity data from Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Burke

People whose public names include Burke, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Burke by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,649
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 533
Best rank ever
#798
1881
Peak year
2013
78 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,118
Count in 2025
49

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#10,101
2017
Peak year
2017
10 that year
First recorded
1999
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
70
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Burke

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ClarkeBurakBurtonBurtBurlBurleyBurenBurnellBurnsBurhanBurneyBurnieBurnisBurrBurnettBurrellBurechBurniceBurgessBurtisBurlinParkeBurelBurdette

Names with a curve like Burke

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Burke, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MannyAugustinLinoGeronimoCreightonPatricioGenoBorisNinoThorJonnyLucky

Sibling names for Burke

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Burke

Top names of 2013, Burke's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1881Boys' names starting with BRugged Boy Names