A Scottish, English and Irish surname of Burns originated from the Middle English term of ‘burn’. The word means living near a small stream. Most of the original Burns families lived along the English and Scottish border and especially in the Cumberland county of England. Many of the original Burns family names were written Burness and later shortened.

An Irish form of Burns is O’Broin and Byrne. Another version used by those of the Jewish faith is Bernstein.

Additional spellings for Burns are Burnes, Burn, Bourne and Bernes.

English counties of Yorkshire, Cumberland and Lancashire have the highest numbers of those with the Burns surname. In Scotland, the Burns families are in the southern region, centered mostly in Lanarkshire county.

Most with the Burns surname live in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. Others are in the mid-west region in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Illinois.

Famous: John A. Burns (governor of Hawaii), George Burns (film, TV actor and comic), Ken Burns (film maker), Robert Burns (18th century Scottish poet), Richard Burns (British car racer), Albert G. Burns (inventor of household gadgets), William Wallace Burns (Civil War Union general), Arthur John Burns (19th century Scottish pioneer to New Zealand) and Joe Burns (professional football player).