Explore the Family Name Burkholder

The meaning of Burkholder

German: altered form of Swiss German Burkhalter. The surname Burkholder is rare in Germany. History: This is the most common form of the name of a Swiss Mennonite and Amish family, originally spelled Burkhalter, but in Germany (and in the US) altered to Burkholder and Borkholder.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Burkholder in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Burkholder has seen an increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the surname moved up from 3216 to 3128, indicating a growth of 2.74%. The count, referring to the number of individuals carrying the Burkholder name, also rose from 10182 in 2000 to 11532 in 2010, marking a substantial 13.26% increase. This translates to a slight uptick in the proportion of individuals with this surname per 100k people - from 3.77 in 2000 to 3.91 in 2010.

20002010Change
Rank#3,216#3,1282.74%
Count10,18211,53213.26%
Proportion per 100k3.773.913.71%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Burkholder

The Decennial U.S. Census also provides insights into the ethnic identity associated with the Burkholder surname. In 2000, 97.98% of those with the surname were identified as White, which slightly decreased to 97.55% by 2010. Over the decade, there was a noteworthy increase of 77.78% in the Asian/Pacific Islander category, albeit from a small base. The proportion of Hispanics with this surname also grew by 34.57%, while the Black group saw a moderate increase of 21.74%. However, the proportions of those identifying with two or more races and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories witnessed a slight decrease over the same period.

20002010Change
White97.98%97.55%-0.44%
Hispanic0.81%1.09%34.57%
Two or More Races0.67%0.62%-7.46%
Asian/Pacific Islander0.18%0.32%77.78%
Black0.23%0.28%21.74%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.15%0.14%-6.67%

Burkholder ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Burkholder is French & German, which comprises 50.9% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are British & Irish (30.6%) and Eastern European (4.4%). Additional ancestries include Italian, Scandinavian, Spanish & Portuguese, Indigenous American, and Ashkenazi Jewish.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
French & German50.9%
British & Irish30.6%
Eastern European4.4%
Other14.1%
Burkholder

Possible origins of the surname Burkholder

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Burkholder have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Greater London, United Kingdom74.50%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom74.50%
Merseyside, United Kingdom74.50%
Glasgow City, United Kingdom73.90%
West Yorkshire, United Kingdom73.90%

What Burkholder haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Burkholder is R-L23, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup R-L23 is descended from haplogroup R-M343. Other common haplogroups include I-L1198 and I-DF29, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Rhyne, Boatright, Boatwright, Reno, Witmer, Bruner, Derrick, Papadopoulos, Tinker, Kaya.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Burkholder surname are: H1, T2b, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

burkholderPaternal Haplogroup Origins R-M343
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to Niall of the Nine Hostages

The spread of haplogroup R-M269 in northern Ireland and Scotland was likely aided by men like Niall of the Nine Hostages. Perhaps more myth than man, Niall of the Nine Hostages is said to have been a King of Tara in northwestern Ireland in the late 4th century C.E. His name comes from a tale of nine hostages that he held from the regions he ruled over. Though the legendary stories of his life may have been invented hundreds of years after he died, genetic evidence suggests that the Uí Néill dynasty, whose name means "descendants of Niall," did in fact trace back to just one man who bore a branch of haplogroup R-M269.The Uí Néill ruled to various degrees as kings of Ireland from the 7th to the 11th century C.E. In the highly patriarchal society of medieval Ireland, their status allowed them to have outsized numbers of children and spread their paternal lineage each generation. In fact, researchers have estimated that between 2 and 3 million men with roots in north-west Ireland are paternal-line descendants of Niall.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to the nomadic Tuareg of the Sahara

Though haplogroup H1 rarely reaches high frequencies beyond western Europe, over 60% of eastern Tuareg in Libya belong to haplogroup H1. The Tuareg call themselves the Imazghan, meaning “free people.” They are an isolated, semi-nomadic people who inhabit the West-Central Sahara and are known today for a distinctive dark blue turban worn by the men, and for their long history as gatekeepers of the desert.How did women carrying H1 make it all the way from western Europe to this isolated community? They likely migrated from Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco after the Last Ice Age, where they were assimilated into the Berbers of the Mediterranean coast. Then, about 5,000 years ago, the Sahara shifted from a period of relative habitable conditions to its dramatically arid desert environment. This shift may have caused migrations throughout the Sahara, prompting the ancient Tuaregs to meet and mingle with the Berbers, bringing H1 lineages into their population.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Burkholder have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Burkholder

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Burkholder" Surname 36.4%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Traits

Burkholder

Misophonia

When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.

"Burkholder" Surname 27.1%

23andMe Users 27.9%

Habits

Burkholder

Sugary Drink

Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.

"Burkholder" Surname 21.1%

23andMe Users 21.1%

Wellness

Burkholder

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Burkholder" Surname 15.1%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Burkholder?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Burkholder are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

French & German 60.8%

23andMe Users 57.2%