Robert Burns was descended from the Burness family of Kincardineshire, where his ancestors were tenant farmers. His father William moved to Ayrshire in 1750, where Robert was born in 1759. Robert signed his name Robert Burness until March 1786, when he adopted the spelling Burns, which was a common name in Ayrshire. The surnames Burn, Burns, Burnes, and Burness all derive from the word burn, which means a small stream, and originated with an ancestor who lived beside a burn. As there are thousands of burns in Scotland and England, there are many unrelated families named Burns.for more click here
