BOTTEN
Botten is an English surname with origins in the British Isles, specifically England. It derives from the Old English word botl, meaning “dwelling” or “house.” As a locational surname, it was typically bestowed upon an individual who resided near or worked at a prominent household or dwelling.
Another line of evidence shows the name as an occupational surname, introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. In this sense it is connected to the Old French boton, meaning a lump or protrusion, and was used as a metonymic nickname for a maker of buttons. Variants recorded in medieval England include Bothen, Botten, Botton, Bootton, Bottoner, Button, Butner, as well as the French forms Bouton, Boutonier, and Buttonnier.
The surname was first documented in the late thirteenth century. In the Hundred Rolls of the county of Sussex (1272) an individual named William Boton is recorded. A year later, in the stone rolls of the city of London (1273), Reginald Botoner is listed. In the year 1568, Ambrose Button appears in the register of students of the University of Oxford, while Thomas Botton is documented among settlers in the Virginia colony in February 1623. The name also travelled to America in the nineteenth century, illustrated by Napoleon Botton sailing on the ship Windsor Castle on 9 June 1847.
Notwithstanding the occupational interpretation, the majority of evidence supports a locational origin rooted in the English term for a dwelling. Accordingly, bearers of the surname were historically associated with a particular house or significant structure within their community.
Typical given names associated with the Botten surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Daniel
- John
- Mark
- Matthew
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Brenda
- Carol
- Claire
- Jane
- Janice
- Julie
- Lucy
- Lynn
- Margaret
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Botten in...
Braille
⠃⠕⠞⠞⠑⠝
Morse
-...-----.-.
Semaphore
There are approximately 478 people named Botten in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around seven in a million people in Britain are named Botten.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
