Kilburn
A place-based surname meaning “someone from Kilburn,” especially the Middlesex place-name near London.
The #7,737 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,969 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kilburn is a locational surname taken from places named Kilburn, especially the well-known Middlesex settlement. The name is usually explained from Old English elements meaning “a kiln” and “stream” or “brook,” though the exact early form can vary by place. In that sense, it likely referred to a settlement near a kiln by a watercourse, or to a similar local feature.
History
The surname appears in English records as a habitational name and was later carried beyond its original locality by migration. Nineteenth-century surname writers consistently treated Kilburn as a place-name surname, and they linked Kilbourn/Killbourn as close spelling variants. The name is found in English-speaking countries today, including the United States, where it survives at modest frequency.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books often grouped Kilburn with names built around local landscape features, especially names involving a “burn” or brook.
From the historical record
“to BEE. KILLBOURN. See Kilburn. KILLICK. Perhaps Kihiwick, co. York. Many provincial dialects drop the final N of Kiln; and the w in the termination '-wick ' and '-wich ' is usually suppressed,”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom