Butz is a very common German name. But the origin of the Butz name of several families out of Berwick, Pennsylvania (and possibly elsewhere) is Ukrainian. I have a yellowing document from my grandfather Ivan, my mother's father (she never married.) "Книжка Робітнича", translated the title is "Worker's Book." It is in three languages: German, Polish and Ukrainian, reflecting the languages prevalent in whatever political entity Ukraine was a part of at that time. A medium resolution image of the full page is below. Looking at the partial transcription below we see Имя і назвиско (first and last name): Иван Будз (Ivan Budz). How did Budz become Butz? My grandfather died long before I was born so I never heard him pronounce it. My aunts and uncles didn't speak much Ukrainian, and if they did I'm guessing their accent wasn't very accurate. Maybe Будз was pronounced so that the it sounded like Butz. Maybe it was changed by the immigration officials to Butz, because of the probably more familiar German name of Butz. Or maybe it was simply bad transliteration, as still happens today from Cyrillic alphabets. Below is the start of "Книжка Робітнича". The entries after the colons were written in cursive Cyrillic, and of an older style. (For example, Иван БудзЪ, has the hard sign Ъ (tvyawrdy znak) written after the terminal з in the original document.) His birthplace was in the village of Zhukotin, Turka district, Lviv region, Ukraine. Coordinates are 49° 13' 60 N, 22° 51' E.
Книжка Робітнича дла
Имя і назвиско: Иван Будз
Містце уродженя: Жукотин
Рік уродженя: 1880
Громада приналежности (Политичний Повіт): Жукотин, Турка
Женатий або неженатий: (???)
Віроисповіданє: гр. кат.
Занятє: (???господар стоп)
(If I were named according to Slavic custom, my name would be Карл Карлович Будз, or Karl Karlovich Butz.)Home