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SHAFER NAME
(From "What's in Your Name?" by Charles Guarino
Tulsa Daily World, July 16 1972)
The Germans delighted in going into elaborate description in adopting surnames. As a result, occupative surnames were more numerous in Germany than in
England. In the everyday life of the German, the simplest of trades or occupations were of utmost importance. The meaning of Shafer was one who tended
sheep, or a shepherd.
Shafer appears to be the shortened, anglicized form of the name with the elimination of the letter 'c' from Schaffer, Schaeffer and Schafer.
Nicknames also were popular in Germany, especially for names taken from animals, birds and fish. So in the early German world of nicknames, one might
very well have heard the word "Schaff", referring to one who became Shafer properly.
In England, Sir Edward Sharpey-Schafer gave prominence to the name as the noted English physiologist. In Germany during the 1800s, Arnold and Wilhelm
Schafer were famous German historians. Also during the 19th century, several arms were granted to Schafers who were chevaliers, or knights, in
Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the picturesque old state of Brunswick.
Some 30,000 emigrants, primarily from the Rhenish or Lower Palantate arrived in London in 1709. Dissatisfied with their lot and attracted by the advertising
of the colonial provinces, they headed for America, many settling in Philadelphia. Numerous Schaffers are listed among these Palatine immigrants.
All types of animals have been used through the centuries on coats of arms. Because of the meaning of the Shafer name, it is only logical that the coat of arms
display the sheep. The animal is shown against a red shield, standing guard on a silver base. "D'azur a un agneau d'arg., pass. sur une te terrasse de sin., tenant une houlette d'or, posee sur son epaule; a la bord. d'or."
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