Felder
A surname that usually means “one who lived by or worked in fields,” or in some cases comes from a place-name with the same sense.
The #2,714 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,289 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Felder is the German plural of Feld, meaning “field,” so the name can point to someone associated with fields or farmland. In surname use, it may function as a topographic or occupational-style name for a person living near open fields, working the land, or identified by a place-name containing Feld-. The form is straightforwardly German in shape, though similar surnames can arise independently in different German-speaking regions.
History
The name is well established in German-speaking areas and also appears among immigrant communities in North America. In some cases it may overlap with Jewish surname patterns, since many German-derived surnames were adopted by Jewish families in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its modern distribution in the United States reflects later immigration and name retention rather than a single family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Feld is such a basic everyday word, Felder can look almost like a plural noun in German: literally, “fields.”
From the historical record
“^■os-g-, for J'agg. rolder, for Felder or FiELPEr.. Foley, from La Folie or Folia, near Rayeux. Robert Folie occurs in Normandy llOo '(MRS). John de Folia was a benefactor to St.”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States