Butler surname meaning

Butler began as an occupational title. In Norman French it referred to a servant responsible for wine or drink stores, and English later broadened the word to a senior household servant. The surname can therefore reflect a job rather than descent from one famous butler. French Boutilier and Bouthillier are related forms, while Irish Butler families include a prominent Anglo-Norman dynasty and German or Swiss-German Beutler and Bütler can be anglicized as Butler. The occupation remains the best catalog type, but those parallel histories keep confidence at likely.