Burris
Burris is most likely a surname that developed from a place-name or a local nickname form, with Irish and English records sometimes treating it as a variant of Burrows or a related form.
The #1,312 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,538 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence is not fully clear, but Burris seems to belong to the broad family of surnames built from place-names or local forms of older personal names. One 19th-century source treats it as a Devon place-name form, while another groups it with surname spellings alongside forms such as Burgess, suggesting later scribal or dialect variation rather than a single fixed source. In practice, Burris may represent more than one line of origin in different families.
History
The name appears in English and Irish surname material, and some bearers may descend from local English forms while others may reflect anglicized Irish usage. Because the spelling has been unstable, records often blur Burris with similar-looking names such as Burrows or Burges-related forms. The surname is well established in the United States today, especially through later British and Irish migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname dictionaries sometimes listed Burris only in passing, which is a good reminder that many common modern names began life as spelling variants rather than neat dictionary entries.
From the historical record
“Burridge. A loc. n., Devon Burris. See Burrows Burrows. A freq. loc. n. Burstall. A loc. n., Suff. Burt. N.-Fr. Berte ; a p.n.”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)