Burg

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Burak in TR Türkiye, TH Thailand, Altenburg in DE Germany, PL Poland and Buki in IN India.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Burg is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French surname9.5K records spelled Burg6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Netherlands, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Castelvecchio, Altenburg, Bürg

• Spanish surname6.7K records spelled Burg9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Argentina, Netherlands

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Altenburg, Bürg, Altenburgo

• a separate surname1.8K records spelled Burg2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Bürg

• Croatian surname188 records spelled Burg34 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, Netherlands, Kazakhstan

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovenian

  Also written Bureš, Bures, Bure, Бир, Birr

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Burg is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, castle

  as a word·A Frequency Dictionary of German

• In Dutch, synonym of burcht (“fortified place, fortress”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, castle, fortification

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Burgundy wine.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Irish, alternative form of buirg (“borough”)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

FR INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) — 11 years between 1891–1991. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Eugen Burgb. 1871DEGerman actor (1871–1944)
• Joseph G. Burgb. 1908DEGerman journalist (1908–1990)
• Josef Burgb. 1909ILIsraeli politician (1909-1999)
• Josef Burgb. 1912UAUkrainian Jewish writer (1912-2009)
• Ursula Burgb. 1919DEGerman actress (1919–1996)
• Abraham Burgb. 1955ILIsraeli politician
• Mark Burgb. 1959USAmerican actor
• Michael J. Burgb. 1963USAmerican actor
• Viola von der Burgb. 1965DEGerman actress
• Job ter Burgb. 1972NLDutch film editor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 38 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Burg?

We estimate roughly 13 thousand people bear Burg (counting its spellings and scripts) across 16 countries in our records.

In which country does Burg have the most bearers?

Burg is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled altenburg.

Where is Burg most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Burg is densest in Switzerland — about 1 in 2.8 thousand people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Burg compared with other names?

In Antigua & Barbuda, Burg is the 230th most common surname of 21,438 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Burg mean?

Recorded meaning: from ahd. burg, nd. borg 'castle, fortification; protection'