Burger
A surname that most often began as a status name for a town citizen or burgher, though in some cases it also comes from place names like Burg or Hamburg.
The #1,840 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,849 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Burger comes from Germanic words for a fortified town, borough, or castle-related settlement. In German it usually meant a burgher, that is, a town citizen with certain rights and duties; older English sources treat it the same way as Burgher or Burgess. Some bearers may instead have taken the name from a place-name element such as Burg or from a town of origin, so the surname can be both status-based and locational depending on the family.
History
Historical dictionaries record Burger in England by the medieval period, and Bardsley notes early forms such as Henry le Burger. The name is especially natural in German-speaking areas, where it is common as a civic-status surname, and it also appears in forms associated with Hamburg or other places beginning with Burg-. In the United States, Burger has remained a recognizable surname and is also likely reinforced by later German immigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root behind Burger is also the source of English words like burg and borough, all tied to the idea of a fortified or organized town.
From the historical record
“Corresp. to the A.-Sax. Burgh{e)arJ. BURGER (Ger.) Burgher, Citizen [Ger. biir- ger, M.li.Ger. biirgcere, O.H.Ger, jMr^an] BUSSY (Fr.) Thicket, Woody Place [O.Fr. bus (mod. bois)i O.H.Ger. busc, a Dush,, thicket, wood : -y repr. the Lat. ' planta- ' tion ' suffix -et-urn\ CAILLARD l (Fr.) i Piebald (evid. anapparel-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)