The duo was named after two real people. While going to college, creator Mike Judge lived next door to a destructive, unsupervised, 12 year-old who called himself "Iron Butt," as he claimed to feel no pain after challenging others to kick him hard in the rear. One of this boy's friends was nicknamed "Butt-head" by Mike Judge and his classmates. There was another boy who lived a few blocks away named Bobby Beavis, though Judge says that he was absolutely nothing like the character aside from his laugh.
The program was brought back for an additional season in 2011, 14 years after it originally ended. In 2020, it was announced to be coming back for at least two more seasons.
Principal McVicker was based off Mike Judge's 9th grade alcoholic band director, who would come to school hungover, smelling like liquor, shaking with anger, and stutter as he talked.
During a 1993 U.S. Senate hearing on violence in television, Sen. Ernest F. Hollings famously referred to Beavis and Butt-Head as "Buffcoat and Beaver." The error was mocked in the episode, Pool Toys (1994).
The shows popularity grew enough for AC/DC themselves to notice and asked Mike Judge to create an intro for the band to their 1995-1996 international Ballbreaker world tour. The clip would play just before the band took stage, showing Beavis and Butthead walking around backstage looking for chicks and ending up banging on AC/DCs door because all the chicks were entering that door. Beavis and Butthead would bang on the door saying "Stop hogging all the chicks, give us some" until a devilish looking Angus Young would open the door, give an evil smile and present them the Ballbreaker chick leaving B&B scarred before fading to black and the band would begin.