Butler Name Study

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This profile is part of the Butler Name Study.

This is a One Name Study to collect together in one place everything about one surname and the variants of that name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join our study to help make it a valuable reference point for people studying lines that cross or intersect. Please contact the project leader, add categories to your profiles, add your questions to the bulletin board, add details of your name research, etc.

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• Butler Genealogists

• Butler Genealogy

• Butler Questions on G2G

Butler Surname

Butler, Boteler, Botilier, etc.

The surname Butler or Bouteillier, preceeds 1215 when the Magna Carta was created. Butler is an aristocratic surname of Norman-French origins. It is one of the very few surnames to be recognized as being pre-1066 in origin and recording in England, and more rarely in France.

It is in an occupational name derived from Olde French: 'bouteillier'. It's meaning is "one who supplies the bottles," (of wine). The surname, "Bouteillier," defines the status of an individual in a royal or noble, household. The Bouteillier or Butler surname's meaning, "Master of the Pantry."

The original "Butlers" were much more than servants, as borne by the example of Theodore Fitzwalter, who accompanied King Henry II on his conquest of Ireland in 1171. He was not only appointed "Chief Butler of Ireland," but he subsequently adopted "Butler" as his surname.

In England and Ireland, no less than ninety four Coats of Arms have been granted to Boteler and Butler, the first belonging to Robert de Pincerna, butler to Randolf, Earl of Chester, in 1158, and the first of the Butlers of Cheshire.

The Butler's were also amongst the first into the new American Colonies, Francis Butler, aged 18, is recorded as a settler at 'Elizabeth Cittie, Virginea' in January 1624. He arrived on the ship 'Bonaventure' and was a member of the governors guard.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is that of Hugo Buteiller, dated 1055. The calendar of preserved ancient documents of France, during the reign of King Henry I of France, 1031 - 1060. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.^[1]

The name is like many others from the medieval time period, spelled differently on every document. It's also common in cases of earlier ancestors that the spelling of a name was not standardized and that the person would have used more than one.

The Butler name came to Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century with the forces of Strongbow. With the acceptance of a Papal Bull by Pope Adrian IV, their descendants came to be known as the Dukes of Ormonde, taking government control of Ireland on the behalf of England.^[2]

The Butler-Rawlings Family Project

Around the 1600s, a few individuals, residing in the villages of Bromham and Corsham, began signing birth, marriage and death records with either ‘Butler alias Rawlings’ or ‘Rawlings alias Butler.’ The living descendants of these individuals have now bare the surnames Butler, Rawlings and Rawlins.

In August of 2012, one such descendant, the late Thomas Butler, traced his ancestry to Richard Butler-Rawlings of Corsham, born around 1640. Thomas also took a Y-DNA test, uploading his results to FamilyTreeDNA.

7 years later, in August of 2019, Omar Butler traced his ancestry to a John Butler-Rawlings of Bromham, born around 1580. Having also taken a Y-DNA test, Thomas was identified as a relative of Omar.

The matching of Omar and Thomas provided evidence that the Butler-Rawlings family of Bromham was related to the Butler-Rawlings family of Corsham.

Relying on such evidence, in September of 2019, Omar Butler, S.D. and S.C., formed the Butler-Rawlings family project. The goal of the project would be to uncover the origins, history and current distribution of the Butler-Rawlings family.

Using DNA testing, and source-based research, project members are working to identify living descendants of the family, and discover exactly how they are related to those original ‘Butler alias Rawlings’/’Rawlings alias Butler’ ancestors. Updates on such research will be shared through the project’s website and social media.

Notables

Samuel Butler - British Author
Octavia E. Butler - Science Fiction Author

Butler Coat of Arms

Butler/Ormonde Coat of Arms

This original and ancient arms has the blazon of a red field, a bend between three goblets, all gold.

Sources for Butler Research

• Descendants of Robertus le Boteler Author prob. TIMOTHY ELLSWORTH DOUGLAS II
• Google of Butler Online Resources
• Google of Dukes of Ormond Resources
• James Butler 2nd Duke of Ormande
• Butler Families Blogspot
• The Anne Boleyne Files An examination of the negotiations for marriage for Anne Boleyn and James Butler
• Official website of the Butler-Rawlings Family Project
• The Butler-Rawlings Family Project WikiTree Page.

1. ↑ Source: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2015
2. ↑ https://www.houseofnames.com/wiki/Strongbow

• The Butler Society [1]