Burgess Name Meaning. English and Scottish: status name from Middle English burge(i)s, Old French burgeis 'inhabitant and (usually) freeman of a (fortified) town' (see Burke), especially one with municipal rights and duties. Burgesses generally had tenure of land or buildings from a landlord by burgage.
The name Burgess was carried to England in the enormous movement of people that followed the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Burgess family lived in Sussex. The name is derived from the Middle English word burge(i)s, or the Old French word burgeis which both mean "inhabitant and freeman of a fortified town."
Burgess Name Meaning. English and Scottish: status name from Middle English burge(i)s, Old French burgeis 'inhabitant and (usually) freeman of a (fortified) town' (see Burke), especially one with municipal rights and duties. ... The -eis ending is from Latin -ensis (modern English -ese as in Portuguese).
