Buč was attested in written sources in 1400 as Futsch (and as Fuczsch in 1444, Zhetsch in 1477, and dorff Watscha in 1495). In the local dialect, the settlement is known as Bəč. The name Buč is related to the Slovene common noun beč '(stone- or wood-lined) hollow with a spring' (< *bъťъ), referring to a local geographical feature. The Slavic word *bъťъ was borrowed from Latin buttis 'barrel' and is also the origin of the Slovene toponyms Beč and Bač. This name form with -u- is based on old transcriptions and also labialization of the semivowel after initial b-.[4] In the past the German name was Butsch.[2]