Budgett is a surname.
According to Reaney, Budgett is cognate with Burchard and similar names. However it is not obvious how Burg would transform to Budg.
There is a verbal tradition in the family that they migrated from France and that the name originates from the French word bougette. Bougette, the diminutive of bouge, means a small leather bag, pouch or wallet and is in fact the origin of the ordinary English and French word budget.
The Parish Register at Nunney in Somerset begins in 1547 and shows the surname Budget (in various spellings) from 1550 onwards. This seems to be the first appearance of the name in England. The Budgett spelling is rare at Nunney until the Nineteenth Century. Most migrants from France to England were Protestants (known as Huguenots) fleeing persecution. There doesn't seem to be any written confirmation that the first English Budgets were Protestant French fugitives but it is a reasonable theory.
People with the surname Budgett include:
See also: James Edward Budgett Meakin (1866–1906) English journalist and travel writer