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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English (chiefly West Country) : (of Norman origin) from the Old French personal name Burdo (oblique case Burdon), probably of Germanic origin, but uncertain meaning.
  • English (chiefly West Country) : nickname for a pilgrim or one who carried a pilgrim’s staff, Middle English, Old French bourdon.
  • English (chiefly West Country) : habitational name from any of various places called Burdon or Burden. Burden in West Yorkshire and Great Burdon in County Durham are named with Old English burh ‘stronghold’, ‘fortified place’ + dūn ‘hill’; Burdon in Tyne and Wear is named with Old English b̄re ‘byre’ + denu ‘valley’.

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