John Cecil, 6th Earl of Exeter (15 May 1674 – 24 December 1721), known as Lord Burghley from 1678 to 1700, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was the son of John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter, and Anne Cavendish. He sat as Member of Parliament for Rutland from 1695 to 1700, when he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. Between 1712 and 1715 he also served as Lord Lieutenant of Rutland. The 6th Earl's second son from his second marriage, Brownlow Cecil, 8th Earl of Exeter, would eventually succeed his brother to the title.