Surname Stapelfeldt - Meaning and Origin

Stapelfeldt: What does the surname Stapelfeldt mean?

The last name Stapelfeldt is of German origin and derives from the two words “Stapel” and “Feldt”, meaning a stack of fields. This signifies that the original family with the name Stapelfeldt owned or tended to many fields. It is believed that the family surname could have arisen from landowners who had numerous small parcels of land.

Another source suggests that the term “Stapelfeldt” may refer to people who earned their living by collecting and stacking wood for winter heating. This means that there may have been a family member who worked as a woodcutter and lived in a location with many fields.

The surname was first recorded in the German region of East Prussia in the sixteenth century. This suggests that the Stapelfeldt family likely descended from German immigrants who had settled in East Prussia long ago.

In modern times, the name Stapelfeldt is primarily found in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. This is a testament to the family’s long and enduring history. The surname is still an active one, with descendants of the original Stapelfeldt family living throughout the world.

Stapelfeldt: Where does the name Stapelfeldt come from?

The last name Stapelfeldt is a German surname, which indicates that it is most likely associated with countries that speak German as a primary language. This includes countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and parts of Belgium and northern Italy. It is also possible to find people with this name in other parts of the world, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.

In Germany, there are approximately 830 people with the last name Stapelfeldt living in the country. These people are mainly concentrated in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, though small portions also exist in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Bavaria. It is also possible to find people with this name in Austria, with a reported 140 living in the country.

The prevalence of the Stapelfeldt surname outside of the German-speaking world is much smaller. In the United States, for example, the US Census Bureau has only reported 146 people living with this surname. Similarly, in Canada there are only 68 people with the same name.

Overall, the last name Stapelfeldt is most common in countries that speak German as a primary language. Those living in other countries are likely descended from German immigrants.

Variations of the surname Stapelfeldt

The surname Stapelfeldt is derived from the German language and can have various spellings and surnames with the same origin. Depending on the spelling, Stapelfeldt could be written as Stapelfeld, Stapelfelt, Stapelfelt, Stapelfeltz and Stapelfedt. Some other possible spellings could include Stapefelt, Stapelfelz, Stapelfeltz, Stapelsfeldt and Stapelsfeld.

Surnames with the same origins or roots as Stapelfeldt include Stapelfeld, Stapelfeldt, Stapelman, and Stapelwald. Stapelfeld is derived from the Low German word ‘stapel’ which means pile, stack or heap, and ‘feld’ meaning field or open land. Stapelman shares the same origins as Stapelfeldt with 'man' added on the end which is the German word meaning man. The surname Stapelwald comes from the German word 'wald' which means forest.

Variants of the surname Stapelfeldt can be found in countries other than Germany, such as in Scandinavia and even in the United States. The surnames can vary based on spelling, with some of the more common variants such as Stapelfeldt, Stapelfeld, Stapelfelt, Stapelfeltz and Stapelfedt found in both countries.

The Stapelfeldt surname can be found in historic records dating back to the year 1592 when it was first mentioned in a document related to a settlement tax in Lübeck. This document plays a significant role in understanding the origin, as well as other variants, of the Stapelfeldt surname.

Famous people with the name Stapelfeldt

• Jens Stapelfeldt: Swedish astronomer and professor at Chalmers University in Gothenburg. He is also the director of the institutes of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University.
• Ballard C. Stapelfeldt: Leading expert on the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems. He is a program director in the Astrophysics Science Division of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• Matthias Stapelfeldt: German physicist and astrophysicist. He is the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and head of the department of Galaxies and Cosmology.
• Arne Stapelfeldt: Danish astronomer and professor at the Niels Bohr Institute of Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics at the University of Copenhagen.
• Anita Stapelfeldt: Swedish astronomer and professor at Umeå University in Sweden. She is specialized in radio astronomy and has published numerous papers in the field.
• Hans-Werner Stapelfeldt: German astrophysicist and professor at the University of Hamburg. He is most well-known for his work on the dynamics of stellar systems and black holes.
• Katrin Stapelfeldt: Danish geophysicist and professor at the University of Copenhagen. She is the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the same university.
• Richard Stapelfeldt: American astronomer and professor at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. He is most well-known for his work on star-forming regions and circumstellar disks.

Other surnames

Stapelfeld