Explore the Family Name Butner

The meaning of Butner

1. English (Durham): occupational name of Norman origin from Old French botonier ‘button maker’, from bo(u)ton ‘knob, lump’, specialized to mean ‘button’. 2. In some cases also German (mainly Bütner): very rare variant of Büttner (see Buettner) and, in North America, probably also an altered form of this.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Butner in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Butner has undergone a slight decline in the United States from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it held the rank of 14,799 which fell to 15,947 in 2010, a decrease of 7.76%. The count of people with this surname also saw a marginal drop of 0.98%, from 1,840 individuals in 2000 to 1,822 in 2010. Consequently, the proportion of this surname per 100,000 people dropped by 8.82% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,799	#15,947	-7.76%
Count	1,840	1,822	-0.98%
Proportion per 100k	0.68	0.62	-8.82%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Butner

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the surname Butner, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows some shifts between 2000 and 2010. While the majority remained White (91.03% in 2000 to 90.12% in 2010), there was a small decrease of 1.00%. There were increases in the percentage identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (from 0.54% to 0.60%), Two or more races (from 1.09% to 1.26%), Hispanic (from 2.39% to 2.74%) and Black (from 4.46% to 4.94%). In contrast, those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native saw a decrease of 32.65% from 0.49% in 2000 to 0.33% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.03%	90.12%	-1%
Black	4.46%	4.94%	10.76%
Hispanic	2.39%	2.74%	14.64%
Two or More Races	1.09%	1.26%	15.6%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.54%	0.6%	11.11%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.49%	0.33%	-32.65%