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Burnell

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Literal meaning not recorded

Burnell has been given to 3,383 babies in the U.S. since 1906. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1920, with 67 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 82% boys, 18% girls all-time.

Babies named Burnell, 2022

1 in 677,000

Burnell 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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Burnell over time

In 2022, Burnell went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19062022

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Burnell: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Burnell means

Burnell is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Burnell is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,790 boys were recorded with the name Burnell between 1906 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 67 in 1920; its best national rank was #819 in 1920.

In the United States, 593 girls were recorded with the name Burnell between 1912 and 1964. Its highest annual count was 28 in 1943; its best national rank was #1,559 in 1929.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Burnell?

Burnell had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2022, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2022
1 in 677,000
5 of 3,385,755 births
Among boys only
1 in 349,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2022
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
469,366 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Burnell 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 2022 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 469,366 children born in 2022 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Burnell. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Burnells were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Burnell was born before 1940 — so the typical Burnell is around 85 today.

Median birth year
1940
About 85 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
20.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
3.5%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
1,011
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 20.1% of all recorded uses (562).

Is Burnell 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1920 (67)
Years since peak
105
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
21.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#819
1920

Spellings of Burnell

Burnell is not the most common spelling — Darnell is, with 41.4% against Burnell's 4.0%.

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 Burnell is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Burnell was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 9,091 boys, against 1 in 91,904 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

011 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 9,091
  2. 2Mississippi1 in 25,000
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 50,000
  4. 4South Dakota1 in 50,000
  5. 5North Dakota1 in 100,000
  6. 6California1 in —
  7. 7Iowa1 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. Burnell has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Burnell is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Burnell was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 683,006 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Georgia1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —
  3. 3Virginia1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Burnell has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Burnell by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#819
1920
Peak year
1920
67 that year
First recorded
1906
Last recorded
2022
All-time count
2,790
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,559
1929
Peak year
1943
28 that year
First recorded
1912
Last recorded
1964
All-time count
593
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Burnell

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

BurrellBurdellBurwellRondellMartellWindellPernellCardellRonnellLatrellLyndellJarrellKordellConnellCarnellMarkellKendellLionellMarcellBurnettBurkeRoswellBurniceDerrell

Names with a curve like Burnell

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

LeamonWeltonMalvinGlenwoodFurmanRudolfOnealDurwoodArdellNorwoodHarrellHilary

Sibling names for Burnell

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 Burnell

Top names of 1920, Burnell's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1920Boys' names starting with B