Family name origins & meanings
- German (also Börst) : from Middle High German borst(e) ‘bristle’, ‘brush’, hence a nickname for someone with a prickly temperament.
- Dutch : short form of de Borst, a nickname for someone with a peculiarity of the chest, from Middle Dutch borst ‘chest’, ‘breast’. Alternatively it may be a short form of van der Borst, a habitational name for someone from Burst in East Flanders (Belgium), or a topographic name for someone who lived by a fortification, Middle Dutch burcht.