The surname "Funderburke" originates from the Old English words "funder" and "burg", which mean "founder of a town" or "settler of a fortress". The phonetic transcription in IPA for "Funderburke" is /ˈfʌndərbɜːrk/, with stress on the first syllable. The spelling of the surname reflects the English language's complex spelling system, as the phonetic transcription shows it's pronounced differently than it's spelled. Despite this, the name has endured and is still used today, often among families with English ancestry.