The Butler Society

Welcome to the home page of The Butler Society.  Membership of this one-name society is open to anyone with an interest in the family history or genealogy of any family of the name Butler.
The Butler Society was founded in 1967 and has published The Journal of The Butler Society since 1968.  A Butler Rally is held every three years in Kilkenny, Ireland.  Members come from many countries including Ireland, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina and South Africa.

Hon. Sec. of The Butler Society, Ireland. 

XXXXHonorary Secretary:

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BUTLER is an occupational name, but it used to have a slightly different meaning. In large medieval households the Butler was the person in charge of the wine.  Since many powerful nobles lived in fear of being poisoned, this was a position of considerable trust.  There are a number of different families called Butler, some of which can be traced back to origins in different medieval households in the British Isles.  On starting research, few will know from which group of Butler families their own particular family originates.  For this reason, The Butler Society deliberately sets out to be a one-name society. In Latin, the name was Buticularius or Pincerna.  There used to be many variations in spelling, such as Boteler, Boutillier, Botiller, Butiller, and Botyller.  Modern variations include Boutler (France), Buttlar (Germany) and Buteler (Argentina).

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COPYRIGHT & DISCLAIMER

Copyright: The Butler Society, except for items attributed to a specific author, which items are copyright of that author.  All rights are reserved, but permission is given for internet users to use the information available on the public areas of this site for their personal non-profitmaking research on condition that the source of this information is acknowledged and that neither The Butler Society nor the relevant author is held responsible for any errors or omissions in any of the information.  Information is given in good faith but not guaranteed.  Users must also accept that genealogical data tends to be subject to change in the light of additional research.

The intention is that this site should conform to the standards and conventions established by GENUKI for genealogical research on the internet.  For reasons concerning Data Protection, personal data on living persons should not be input to this site.