Submitted Name Revision History

German name of debated origin and meaning. Current theories include an old and obscure feminine form of BIRK, which itself is an Alemannic short form of names containing the element Burk- (the name element being derived from Old High German burg "protection; shelter", compare BURKHARD), an early 20th-century coinage based on Indogermanic bircha "glowing", an early 20th-century coinage based on Middle Low German berke "birch tree" and an early 20th-century coinage based on the modern German word Birke "birch tree" and thus making it a botanical word name.
Whatever theory might be true, the general public usually considers Birke a word name nowadays.