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Burnie
How to Pronounce Burnie
Pronounced BUR-nee /ˈbɜːrni/Medium
Meaning: Burnie began as an affectionate short form of Bernard, from the Germanic bern 'bear' and hard 'brave, hardy', so the parent name reads as 'bold as a bear'. As a stand-alone birth name it carried that nickname warmth.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Burnie grew out of Bernard, a name the Normans carried into England and that stayed steady for centuries. By the late nineteenth century American families were sometimes writing the pet form Burnie straight onto the birth record, treating the nickname as the whole name.
In United States records Burnie was never common, drawing only a couple dozen boys a year even at its early-twentieth-century high around 1916, then thinning out by the middle of the century. It reads today as a homey, old-fashioned nickname-name; a boy given it then would sit in a great-grandfather's generation now.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Burnie mean?
It is a short form of Bernard, from a Germanic name meaning 'bold as a bear'.
How do you pronounce Burnie?
It's said BUR-nee /ˈbɜːrni/, two syllables, stress on the first.
Is Burnie a boy or girl name?
Burnie is used here as a boy's name.
Is Burnie a popular name?
No, it has always been rare, a nickname-name that saw only faint use around the early twentieth century.