Diminutive chickens of similar coloration to today's Dutch Bantams have been seen in the Netherlands for hundreds of years, but the exact origin of the breed is unclear. It is likely that the ancestors of the Dutch Bantam were Southeast Asian bantams brought back by sailors from the Dutch East Indies. Historically, it is supposed that these tiny chickens were selectively bred because only small eggs could be kept by peasant farmers, while larger ones were required to be sent to the kitchens of the landed gentry. The first written reference to the Dutch Bantam as a distinct breed is in the Hand- en standaardboek of R.T. Maitland, director of the Royal Zoological Botanical Gardens [nl] of The Hague, published in 1882; he referred to them as patrijskrielen, "partridge bantams". The Nederlandse Hoender Club, the Dutch national poultry club, recognized the breed in 1906. A breeders' association, the Hollandse Krielenfokkers Club, was formed in 1946. 

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The Dutch Bantam was first exported to the United States in the 1950s. It was included in the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1992 in two colors; four others were later added. It reached the United Kingdom towards the end of the 1960s; the British Dutch Bantam Club was formed in 1982, and thirteen colors are standardized. It is also reared in Germany and in South Africa.

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