Burrows
A common English surname usually from a place name, often referring to someone who lived by or came from a burgh, borough, or similar settlement.
The #2,085 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,790 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a locational name, ultimately linked to words meaning a fortified place, borough, or town. Older surname dictionaries often treat Burrows as a variant or pluralized form related to Burgh/Borough/Bury. In some cases it may reflect a specific local place-name or a spelling shaped by dialect and scribal variation rather than a single fixed source.
History
Nineteenth-century surname scholars commonly grouped Burrows with other English local surnames derived from borough-type place names. The spelling has long existed alongside forms such as Burroughs and Burrowes, and the family name became established in England well before modern record-keeping. Today it is especially familiar in England and in English-speaking countries such as the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 1903 surname guide called Burrows a “frequent” local surname, reflecting how often English families were named from their place of residence.
From the historical record
“BURRO WES. See Burgh. BURROWS. See Burgh. BURSLEM. A town in StafTordshire. BURST ALL. Parishes in cos. York and Suffolk. BURSTER. A corruption of Biirstow, CO. Surrey. BURT. The trivial name of a fish ; but the surname is no doubt derived from the”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom