Surname Kaufler - Meaning and Origin
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Kaufler: What does the surname Kaufler mean?
The last name Kaufler is derived from an old German word ‘Kaufmann’, which means merchant. It is believed that the first people to adopt this surname were merchants or traders, as the name is associated with commerce and trading.
This last name is closely associated with the small central European country of Austria. It is one of the most common surnames in the country, likely due to its age. The oldest documented record of the name dates back to the 1600s, when a man named Michael Kaufler was the mayor of a small village in Vienna.
The Kaufler surname is also popular in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, where many immigrants from Austria and Germany have settled. It is particularly common in Pennsylvania, where many people of German descent have moved.
The surname is believed to have a number of meaning, including ‘possessor’, ‘payment provider’, ‘business man’, ‘professional’, ‘prudent’, and ‘trustworthy’. This is an appropriate reflection of the qualities associated with those who adopted the name: a business-minded and resourceful people who are carefully considered in their decisions.
Order DNA origin analysisKaufler: Where does the name Kaufler come from?
The last name Kaufler is most commonly found in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is unknown if the name was brought to the continent by settlers in the Medieval Ages or if it is a localized name originating within the region.
Kaufler is one of the ten most common German surnames. It is concentrated in the western part of the country and this concentration may correlate with the significant German settlement in the American Midwest during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In modern day, the surname Kaufler is becoming more distributed, which is likely being fueled by national migration to larger cities and international immigration. It is especially common in the German-speaking areas of eastern Europe, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia.
The name Kaufler is also present in Italy, France, and the Netherlands, though on a much less frequent basis. It is likely the result of recent immigration from Eastern-Europe to these countries.
Kaufler is also not unheard of in the United States and Canada. In both countries, the surname is in the top 1,000 last names. This suggests the presence of Germanic emigrants or their descendants.
Variations of the surname Kaufler
The variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin for the surname Kaufler are Kaulfers, Kauflers, Kaufflers, Kauffers, Kaulers, Kofflers, Kaulers and Kauflers.
The surname Kaufler is an ancient German name derived from the Old German language in which Kaufler stands for ‘merchant’ or ‘trader’. People who belonged to this lineage were merchants who traded goods from one area to another. In some parts of Germany, the name Kaufler is also associated with the production of lime.
The various spellings of Kaufler occurred as the family migrated to different parts of Europe, mainly during the Middle Ages. Later, immigrants to the United States and other English-speaking countries adopted the many variants of the name due to their phonetic similarities.
The Kaulfers and Kofflers derive from the same origin but carry slightly different spellings. The Kauflers and Kaulers are derived from a high German origin and quickly spread to the surrounding regions of Germany during the Middle Ages. Kaufflers and Kauffers derived their spellings from the combination of two words Kauf (English translation is ‘buy’) and Fles (English translation is ‘traveller’). While Kaufler is the more common spelling, Kaufler is the German spelling of the same surname.
All of the variants of the Kaufle family are derived from the same origin, carrying slightly different spellings. They all bear witness to an ancient German heritage and significant historical movement of the Kaufle family from one area to another.
Famous people with the name Kaufler
- Andreas Kaufler: the most famous person with the last name Kaufler is the German industrialist and investor Andreas Kaufler who has established numerous businesses in the fields of finance, insurance, and tech.
- Johannes Kaufler: a Swiss opera singer and member of the Royal Opera Company in Covent Garden, London, England.
- Laurence Kaufler: an Academy Award-winning production designer whose work spans generations and includes work on classic films like “Gone with the Wind” and “Rebel Without a Cause.”
- Michael Kaufler: a German lawyer and author who is renowned for his extensive research on corporate law and is particularly known for his contributions to the theory of corporate governance.
- Romy Kaufler: the first female goalie in Germany’s top flight professional women’s soccer league, the Frauen Bundesliga.
- Robert Kaufler: an Olympic speed skater who represented Germany at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
- Rudolf Kaufler: an Austrian artist who was part of the Vienna Secessionist movement and renowned for his landscape and figural compositions.
- Otto Kaufler: a German composer and conductor whose works have appeared in renowned operas like “Tannhäuser” and “Die Meistersinger.”