This very unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and has two possible sources. Firstly, it may be a topographical surname for someone who lived or worked at a particular large house, derived from the Old English pre 7th Century term 'bothl, botl', large dwelling-house, hall. Secondly, the modern surname, found as Boodle, Buddle, Buttle, Bodle and Boydell, may be locational, deriving from a place named with the Old English elements 'bothl', such as 'Buddle', in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, 'Buddle' in Niton, Isle of Wight, or 'Buddle Oak' in Halse, Somerset, or 'Budle' in Northumberland, which is recorded as 'Bodle' in the 1197 Pipe Rolls of the county. The marriage of Abraham Boodle and Grace Cruttenden was recorded at Burwash, Sussex, on January 7th 1613, and one William Boodle was christened at St. Ann's, Blackfriars, London, on January 16th 1643. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John atte Bothele, which was dated 1327, County Records of Somersetshire, during the reign of King Edward 11, 'Edward of Caernafon', 1307-1327. 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.

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