BURFIELD
Burfield is an English surname of locational origin, deriving from the Old English words burh, meaning a fortress or stronghold, and feld, meaning an open field or area of land. The literal sense is therefore “fortified field.” It is believed that the name originally denoted a person who lived near, worked in, or was associated with such a fortified area of land.
The surname is well established in the surviving early registers of the diocese of Greater London from the mid–sixteenth century. The earliest documented spelling appears in a 1566 entry at St Pancras church, London, where it is recorded as Thomas Bowrefeild. Other early nineteenth‑century examples include John Burfield, whose daughter Elizabeth was christened at St Brides church, Fleet Street, on 16 October 1596; Roger Baryfld, who married Anne Bennet at St Michael Bassishaw on 19 November 1604; and Dorothie Barfield, who married Edmund Child at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney on 15 December 1629.
The name has been recorded in a number of spellings, including Barfield, Baerfield, Bearfield and Burfield. These variants reflect the lack of spelling standardisation in early modern England. A hamlet called Barfield exists in the Lake District, near Ravensglass, and there was a village called Burfield in Shropshire; it is plausible that either location gave rise to the surname in its various forms.
During the late‑fifteenth and early‑sixteenth centuries the countryside of England underwent significant change with the onset of the earliest industrial revolution and the conversion of many lands to sheep farming. The resulting depopulation of some five thousand villages between 1550 and 1750 left the surname Burfield as a surviving remnant of those lost settlements.
Although not common today, the name Burfield remains primarily concentrated in the United Kingdom, especially in historic counties such as Lancashire, Essex, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire. In overseas English‑speaking countries it is found at a low frequency; for instance, United States, Canada and Australia each record the name, most often along the Eastern Seaboard and in the mid‑Atlantic states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Notable bearers of the name include the footballer Mike Burfield, a three‑time winner of the FA Trophy and the novelist Helen Burfield, whose work has appeared in The Guardian and other literary publications. Their achievements illustrate how the surname continues to be associated with contemporary talent while evoking a heritage that stretches back to Norman rule and the Anglo‑Saxon period.
Typical given names associated with the Burfield surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- Colin
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Matthew
- Paul
- Philip
Female
- Caroline
- Claire
- Clare
- Denise
- Francesca
- Helen
- Jill
- Julie
- Juliet
- Karen
- Laura
- Pauline
- Sharon
- Susan
- Valerie
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Burfield in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 435 people named Burfield in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around seven in a million people in Britain are named Burfield.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
