Batlle

The name derives from the Catalan common noun, batlle, which referred to bailiffs in the sense of overseers of bailiwicks and has the same ultimate origin; a more modern analogue would be the role of mayor, though batlles were considered vassal rulers.^[2][3][4] This ultimate origin is the Latin term baiulus, someone employed with a degree of responsibility and authority.^[2][5] The Latin term entered Old Occitan as baile^[6] before becoming bayle in Occitan (remaining baile in Aragonese)^[7] and batlle in the Limousin dialect.^{[8]: viii [9]} It is one of a variety of officeholder titles that became widely used as surnames.^[9] In their dictionary, César Conto and Emiliano Isaza noted the ending of the surname Batlle is strange in Spanish, into which it has been adopted, due to originating from a Spanish territory with different languages.^[8]: xxxv

The traditional coat of arms of the Catalan family from which descended the Uruguayan Batlle family is described by Enrique Rodríguez Fabregat as being a field of red – "violently red like dawn" – and depicting an arm armoured in silver bearing a silver sword with a golden hilt, the sword facing its bearer:^{[10]: 59 [11]} "The arm of this [coat of arms] neither subjugates nor kills. The arm of this [coat of arms] wears armour like Don Quixote's. The sword of this arm has a light like that of Justice."^[11]

Another coat of arms, for the Batlle family of Girona, was a field of green with two silver stars at the top and a complex golden cross; the cross potent had two horizontal arms, with its vertical arm providing the upright of the letters A and B.^[12] Ignacio Vicente Cascante in his Heráldica General y Fuentes de las Armas de España mentions a Berenguer Batlle whose coat of arms bears green leaves extending out.^[13]

• Uruguayan Batlle family:
  • Lorenzo Batlle y Grau, President of Uruguay from 1868 to 1872
  • José Batlle y Ordóñez, President of Uruguay from 1903 to 1907 and 1911 to 1915, son of Lorenzo Batlle y Grau
  • Matilde Pacheco, wife of José Batlle y Ordóñez and, previously, his cousin Ruperto Michaelsson Batlle
  • Lorenzo Batlle Pacheco, Uruguayan politician and son of José Batlle y Ordóñez
  • César Batlle Pacheco, Uruguayan politician and son of José Batlle y Ordóñez
  • Rafael Batlle Pacheco, Uruguayan journalist and son of José Batlle y Ordóñez
  • Luis Batlle Berres, President of Uruguay from 1947 to 1951 and 1955 to 1956, nephew of José Batlle y Ordóñez
  • Matilde Ibáñez Tálice, Uruguayan journalist and wife of Luis Batlle Berres
  • Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, President of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005, son of Luis Batlle Berres
  • Mercedes Menafra, Uruguayan entrepreneur, wife of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez
  • Carolina Ache Batlle, Uruguayan politician, Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay since 2020, grand niece of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez
  • José Amorín Batlle, Uruguayan politician, Senator since 2010, first cousin once removed of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez
• Dominican descendants of Ulises Francisco Espaillat:
  • Aída Mercedes Batlle, Dominican political figure, former First Lady of the Dominican Republic
  • Federico Antún Batlle, Dominican politician
  • Julio Vega Batlle, Dominican writer
• Aida Batlle, Salvadoran businesswoman
• Alexis Batle, Cuban volleyball player
• Antonio Enrique Lussón Batlle, Cuban soldier and politician
• Armand Batlle, French rugby union footballer
• Eduard Batlle, Spanish scientist
• Enric Marco, Spanish impostor
• Fernando Clavijo Batlle, Spanish politician, President of the Canary Islands since 2023
• Francesc Cambó, Spanish politician
• Jay Batlle, American artist
• José Perdomo, Uruguayan footballer
• Josep Maria Abella Batlle [es], Spanish bishop
• Juan Batlle Planas, Spanish-Argentine painter
• Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle, Dominican historian, diplomat, politician and lawyer
• Ona Batlle, Spanish footballer
• Ramón Carnicer, Spanish composer and conductor

• Laurent Batlles, French footballer