This interesting surname is of Old French origin, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066. It was an occupational name for a wine steward, usually the chief servant of a medieval household, deriving from the Anglo-Norman French "butuiller", Old French "bouteillier", a butler. In the large households of royalty and the most powerful nobility, the title frequently denoted an officer of high rank and responsibility, only nominally concerned with the supply of wine. The surname may also be of medieval English origin, and was a metonymic occupational name for a maker of leather bottles, deriving from the Middle English "botel", bottle. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. Finally, the surname may also derive from the Old Norse personal name "Bothild(r)", of uncertain origin. Godwinus filius (son of) Botild, is noted in the "Kalendar" of Abbot Samson of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk (1188), and Adam Botild is listed as a witness in the 1221 Assize Court Rolls of Gloucestershire. One of the earliest settlers in the New World was Paul Bottell, aged 32 yrs., who departed from the port of London aboard the "Mathew", bound for St. Christopher's in the Barbados in May 1635. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is a silver shield with a black fesse between three black escallops, the Crest being a blue escallop shell. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Buteiller, which was dated 1055, in the "Calendar of Documents preserved in France", during the reign of King Edward, known as "The Confessor", 1042 - 1066. 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.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024