Burke

Burke is a surname name with an important Anglo-Norman and Irish history. One major route traces it to Burgh in England, with the place name containing an Old English word for a fortified place. The surname became especially established in Ireland through the de Burgh family, so its history crosses more than one country and language tradition.

As a given name, Burke can preserve an ancestral surname or honor a family connection with that history. Bourke is a closely related surname spelling. The concise meaning from the fortified place gives a useful starting point, while a particular family's records may reveal which branch of the surname it carries and how that spelling developed.