Date
Meaning & History
Topographic name for someone who lived by a hill or tumulus, Old English "beorg", a cognate of Old High German berg "hill", ‘mountain’ (see Berg). This name has become confused with derivatives of Old English burh ‘fort’ (see Burke). Reaney suggests a further derivation from Old English bur ‘bower’ + hus ‘house’.Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press