Burnett
Burnett is usually an English surname from Bernard/Barnard, though some early writers also linked it to a brownish descriptive word.
The #554 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,079 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most scholars have treated Burnett as a variant or corruption of Bernard/Barnard, a medieval personal name meaning roughly “bold as a bear” from Germanic elements for “bear” and “hardy/strong.” Another older explanation connects it with a French word for “brown, tawny,” making it a nickname surname based on color. The surname may also have been influenced by Burnet, a nearby place-name in Somerset.
History
The name is recorded in England by the 19th-century surname writers as an old form, and later became established in Britain and then in North America. In historical usage, Burnett often appears beside Burnet and Burnard, reflecting the loose spelling practices of medieval and early modern records. It is also the surname of several notable families and public figures, which helped keep the name familiar.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One early surname dictionary notes that Burnett may have been pulled in two directions at once: as a family-name form of Bernard, or as a nickname from a word meaning “brownish.”
From the historical record
“early as 1087. Dugdale. BURNETT. Probably a corruption of Bernard ; or it may be, by a transposition of letters not uncommon, the Fr. brunef, brownish, tawny, and so a diminutive of Browne. 2. A parish in Somersetshire. BURNEY. Probably the same as Ber- naj', which see. A Ralph de Bernai occurs in the Domesd. of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom