Daily AncestorValet
A valet was a man's personal male servant, who cared for his employer's clothes, helped him dress and kept his belongings in order.
The word, recorded in English since 1567, comes from French and originally meant a young man or squire. A valet looked after his employer's clothing and personal belongings and made small arrangements, much as a lady's maid did for a woman. He is not the same as a butler, who ran the household staff.
Hotels also employed valets for guests. In the United States today the word most often means a car parking attendant, a sense too late for census records.
As seen in a recordRelationship and occupation columns of the 1880 to 1920 census
Henri Dubois, Servant, 34, Valet, France
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Daily Ancestor. "Valet." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/valet. Last checked 2026-10-10.