Springer Family History

English, German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic) refer to a nickname for a lively person or a traveling entertainer, derived from an agent form of Middle English, Middle High German springen, Middle Dutch springhen, and Yiddish shpringen, all meaning ‘to jump or leap’. The surname of German origin is also found in regions of France (Alsace and Lorraine), Poland, Czechia, and Slovenia, indicating a broader geographical presence (see also 4 below).

In part, this surname is a Gottscheerish (i.e., Gottschee German) surname that originates from the Kočevsko region in Lower Carniola, Slovenia (see Kocevar). The English variant may be an occupational name derived from Middle English springer(e), which can refer to a ‘dancer’ or ‘fencer’, or potentially someone who traps animals or birds. This variant is derived either from Middle English springen meaning ‘to spring up or leap’ (Old English springan) or from Middle English spring, which denotes a dance, fencing stroke, or bird snare.

Additionally, 'Springer' could also be a topographic name from Middle English springer, describing someone who lived near a plantation of young trees or by a spring—as in Middle English spring, meaning ‘young tree, young plantation, copse, spring, source of a stream’. This type of formation, where the suffix -er is attached to a topographic term, is especially common in Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire. However, no compelling evidence has yet been discovered to substantiate this derivation of Springer.

In other regions, such as Czechia, Slovenia, and Croatia, the name (Špringer) serves as a nickname of German origin. In Slovenia, it may also exist as a Slovenized form of the Gottscheerish surname, reflecting the linguistic and cultural intermingling in these areas.