Buttain History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The name Buttain is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a maker of buttons. The surname Buttain is a metonymic name derived from the Old French word boton, which means button.

Alternatively, the name could have been derived from the Old English "bi" + "dun," collectively meaning "dweller by the down." 1

Early Origins of the Buttain family

The surname Buttain was first found in Hampshire and later in Gloucestershire and Somerset. Lower says the family can be traced to the 13th century in Hampshire where Sir Walter de Button was progenitor of the family about 1216 A.D. 2 The family had flourished for several centuries in that county, intermarrying with many distinguished families, supplementing their estates with marriages of the heiresses of the Furneaux, Bryan, Turbevilles, Bassets and others.

According to the Pipe Rolls of 1177, Trihon Bidon held lands there at that time and over one hundred years later, William Bidun was listed in Hundredorum Rolls of Bedfordshire in 1279. 1

William of Bitton I (d. 1264,) also listed as William Button was a medieval Bishop of Bath and Wells. His nephews included another William of Bitton (d. 1274,) was also Bishop of Bath and Wells; and William's brother, a Thomas of Bitton (d. 1307,) an Archdeacon and Dean of Wells, and later Bishop of Exeter (1291-1307). 3

Further to the north in Scotland, "Walter de Bydun witnessed King David's gift of Rindelgros (i.e. Rhind in Perthshire) to the Abbey of Reading c. 1143-47. He or a succeeding Walter appears several times as chancellor of Scotland between c. 1165 and 1178, and as a witness to royal charters. A twelfth century pedigree of the family is given in Pipe Roll Society Publications, vol. xxxv, p. xliii." 4

Early History of the Buttain family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Buttain research. Another 155 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1355, 1566, 1584, 1612, 1613, 1614, 1620, 1624, 1625, 1629, 1634, 1646, 1648, 1655, 1659, 1665, 1679, 1680 and 1713 are included under the topic Early Buttain History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Buttain Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Buttain family name include Button, Bitton, Buttoner, Buton, Biton, Buttons, Boutin, Bouttin, Bouton, Boutton, Budden, Buddan, Boudin, Bouddin, Buttan, Buddon, Buddin, Butten, Buttin, Butting, Budding, Buttane and many more.

Early Notables of the Buttain family

Distinguished members of the family include John Budden (1566-1620), Professor of civil law at Oxford, son of John Budden of Canford, Dorsetshire; Sir William Button, 1st Baronet (1584-1655), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629, supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War; John Button (died 1665), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1625 and 1648, he fought on the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War; Ralph Button (died 1680), an English academic and clergyman, Gresham Professor of Geometry, canon of Christ Church, Oxford...
Another 104 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Buttain Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Buttain family to Ireland

Some of the Buttain family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Buttain family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Buttain or a variant listed above: Mary Button who settled in Jamaica in 1685; Thomas Button settled in Virginia in 1623; William Button settled in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1620; John Button settled in Baltimore Maryland in 1775.

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)