# Schaefer (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/schaefer/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation], equivalent to English Shepherd.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 41,063 |
| US rank (2010) | 841 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 7,519 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.0% (40,663 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Schafer |

## Etymology

From German Schaefer (“shepherd”), an occupational surname; from Middle High German schæfære, from late Old High German scāphare.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Schaefer in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Schaefer in the United States and Australia.

## People named Schaefer

- Manfred Schaefer, Australian soccer player (1943–2023)
- Anne Schaefer, American actress (1870-1957)
- Henry F. Schaefer, American chemist
- George Schaefer, American television and theater director (1920-1997)
- Jack Schaefer, American writer (1907–1991)
- Herm Schaefer, American basketball player-coach (1918-1980)
- William Donald Schaefer, American politician (1921-2011)
- Hal Schaefer, American musician (1925–2012)
- Will Schaefer, American musician (1928–2007)

## Similar surnames

Schafer, Schaffer, Schaeffer, Schiffer, Scheffer, Shaffer, Shafer, Shaver, Sheaffer, Sheffer, Schipper, Schober.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.