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Butler Name Meaning & Historical Trends

Butler

Pronunciation: BUT-lur

Meaning Bottle bearer; wine steward Gender Boy
Butler' Popularity in U.S.
No births recorded for Butler in the 2025 SSA name data.
Peak Years
1919, 1915, 1916
Lowest Years
1891, 1950, 1884
Energy Archetype
Emotional & Intuitive

Fun Facts About the Name Butler

  • 987 babies named Butler: U.S. records list 987 babies given the name Butler from 1880 through 2025.

What Does the Name Butler Mean?

Butler is an English occupational name meaning "bottle bearer" or "wine steward." It comes from Anglo-Norman French butuiller and Old French bouteillier, both built on boteille ("bottle"), which descends from Late Latin butticula, a diminutive of buttis ("cask" or "barrel"). The literal sense is the servant who fetched and served bottles from the household cellar.

In a great medieval household the butler was the officer in charge of the wine and the drink stores, a post of real responsibility rather than a menial one. The occupational word passed into English as butler and remains the ordinary term for a household's senior male servant. As a first name, Butler is a transferred use of this surname and carries no separate etymology of its own.

Butler Name History & Origins

Butler belongs to the large group of English surnames taken from a household occupation. It appears in medieval records in forms such as le Butiller and le Bouteiller, where the Norman French article le marks the office rather than a family. The same occupational word produced surnames in France (Bouteiller, Bouteillier) and elsewhere in the Norman world, and it entered Middle English directly from Anglo-Norman.

In Ireland the name acquired a dynastic character. Theobald Walter, a Norman knight, was granted the hereditary office of chief butler of Ireland by Henry II in the twelfth century. His descendants adopted Butler as a family name and became the Butlers, Earls of Ormond, one of the most prominent Anglo-Irish families. The Irish form of the name is Buitléir.

As a first name, Butler is uncommon and is used mainly in English-speaking countries as a transferred surname. Its best-known appearance in fiction is as the surname of Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936), which is a literary use of the surname rather than evidence about the given name.

How Popular is the Name Butler?

Butler recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1919. Its best rank was #518 in 1886.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

Most Popular Boy Names That Start with B

See List of Most Popular Boy Names Starting with B

How the Name Butler Shapes Your Personality and Life?

You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.

You find the best contentment in life when you own your own home and provide well for your family and loved ones. You have a great sense of responsibility and duty. You are comforting, appreciative and affectionate. Your obligation in life is to hold justice and truth, and if you follow the Law, you can find the great happiness and satisfaction.

✦ Butler's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Butler's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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