The village name was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bortone and means "farmstead near a stronghold" in modern English. The hamlets of Broughton, Broughton Crossing and Burcott lie within the parish boundary.
Today with Aylesbury growing at the rate that it is, the village is at risk of becoming a suburb of the larger town. All that separates the two presently is a field of allotments about a hundred yards wide, owned by Bierton with Broughton Parish Council. Hopefully the land will never be built on and the village will maintain its autonomy as a place in its own right.