Stover
Usually an altered form of a German surname like Stoever or Stober, though older sources also gave it a different Scandinavian explanation.
The #1,455 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,588 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Stover is most often treated as an Americanized spelling of German or Dutch names such as Stoever, Stober, or Stöver, with the vowel spelling simplified in English. The underlying name is usually connected with a place-name or local surname tradition rather than a single transparent English word. Some 19th-century writers, however, proposed a separate Danish source and interpreted it as a word for a fleet hound or hunting dog.
History
In the United States, Stover became established through immigration and spelling adaptation, especially from German-speaking families whose names were written with umlauts or Dutch-style vowel spellings. Historical surname manuals also list it alongside forms like Stoever, Stober, and Stovin/Stowin, showing how easily it was grouped with similar-looking European names. The competing Danish explanation appears in older literature but is less commonly followed today.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes linked Stover to the same family of names as Stoever and Stober, reflecting how often immigrant spellings shifted once they reached English-speaking records.
From the historical record
“signifying an inclosure. STOVER. (Dan.) A fleet hound, a name given for swiftness or love of hunting. STO WE. A fixed place or mansion ; a town, a garrison. STRACHAN. (Gaelic.) Local. From the parish of Strachan in Kincardineshire, Scotland, formerly Straihaen. The name may come from stra or strath, a vale, from…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names