Schaefer is an alternative spelling and cognate for the German word schäfer, meaning 'shepherd',^[1] which itself descends from the Old High German scāphare. Variants "Shaefer", "Schäfer" (a standardized spelling in many German-speaking countries after 1880), the additional alternative spelling "Schäffer", and the anglicised forms "Schaeffer", "Schaffer", "Shaffer", "Shafer", and "Schafer" are all common surnames.

Born in 1800–1899

• Arnold Schaefer (1819–1883), German historian
• Germany Schaefer (1877–1919), American baseball player
• Jacob Schaefer Sr (1850–1910), American billiards player
• Jacob Schaefer Jr (1894–1975) American billiards player
• Jacob Schaefer (composer) (1888–1936), American composer and conductor
• Marie Charlotte Schaefer (1874-1927), American physician
• Rudolph Jay Schaefer I (1863–1923), American businessman

Born in 1900–1949

• Fred K. Schaefer (1904-1953), German and American geographer
• Walter V. Schaefer (1904-1986), American jurist and educator
• Vincent Schaefer (1906–1993), American chemist and meteorologist who developed cloud seeding
• Jack Warner Schaefer (1907–1991), American fiction author
• Milner Baily Schaefer (1912–1970), American fisheries biologist
• William Donald Schaefer (1921–2011), American politician
• Udo Schaefer (1926–2019), German Bahá'í author
• Will Schaefer (1928–2007), American composer
• Bill Schaefer (field hockey) (1925-2003), New Zealand field hockey player
• Kermit Schaefer (1923–1979), American writer, broadcast and Pardon My Blooper record series producer
• Daniel Schaefer (1936–2006), American politician
• James Schaefer (1938-2018), American politician and rancher
• Bob Schaefer (born 1944), American baseball coach
• Henry F. Schaefer, III (born 1944), American computational and theoretical chemist, academic and Protestant educator
• Gerard John Schaefer (1946–1995), American killer, rapist, and suspected serial killer
• Ronald P. Schaefer (born 1945), American linguist

Born after 1950

• Vic Schaefer (born 1961), American basketball coach
• Peter Schaefer (ice hockey) (born 1977), Canadian ice hockey player
• Jarrett Schaefer (born 1979), America film director and screenwriter
• Nolan Schaefer (born 1980), Canadian ice hockey player
• Bradley E. Schaefer, American physicist
• Kurt Schaefer, American academic
• Peter Schaefer (author), American academic and religious history author
• Laura Schaefer (disambiguation), multiple people

Born after 1800

• Wilhelm Schäfer (1868–1952), German naturalist writer and magazine publisher
• Dirk Schäfer (1873–1931), Dutch pianist and composer
• Karl Emil Schäfer (1891–1917), German World War I pilot, recipient of the Pour le Mérite

Born after 1900

• Emanuel Schäfer (1900–1974), officer in the German SS, head of Serbian security police during World War II
• Gustav Schäfer (rower) (1906–1991), German Olympic rower
• Karl Schäfer (figure skater) (1909–1976), Austrian Olympic figure skater
• Ernst Schäfer (1910–1992), German hunter, zoologist and ornithologist
• Willy Schäfer (handball player) (1913–1980), Swiss Olympic field handball player
• Paul Schäfer (1921–2010), German-Chilean cult leader
• Hans Schäfer (1927–2017), German retired footballer
• Karl Heinz Schäfer (1932–1996), German-born composer and arranger working in France
• Willy Schäfer (actor) (1933–2011), German actor
• Barbara Schäfer (1934–2024), German politician
• Hans-Bernd Schäfer (born 1943), German economist and scholar
• Manfred Schäfer (1943–2023), German-Australian retired professional footballer
• Wolfgang Schäfer (born 1945), German choral conductor and academic

Born after 1950

• Winfried Schäfer (born 1950), German football manager
• Anita Schäfer (born 1951), German politician
• Axel Schäfer (born 1952), German politician
• Dagmar Schäfer (born 1968), German sinologist and historian of science
• Klaus Schäfer (catholic theologian) (born 1958), German catholic theologian, priest and author
• Michael Schäfer (born 1959), Danish football manager
• Markus Schäfer (born 1961), German tenor
• Thomas Schäfer (1966−2020) German lawyer and politician, Minister of Finance in Hesse
• Bärbel Schäfer (born 1963), German television presenter
• Christine Schäfer (born 1965), German soprano
• Jan Schäfer (born 1974), German Olympic canoer
• Raphael Schäfer (born 1979), German footballer
• Marcel Schäfer (born 1984), German footballer
• András Schäfer (born 1999), Hungarian footballer

Born after 1800

• Saint Anna Schäffer (1882–1925), German mystic, canonized by Pope Benedict in 2012
• Charles Schäffer (1838–1903), American physician and botanist
• Fritz Schäffer (1888–1967), German politician
• Julius Schäffer (1882–1944), German mycologist
• Mary Schäffer Warren (1861–1939), American naturalist, illustrator, and explorer in Canada

Born after 1950

• Andreas Schäffer (born 1984), German footballer

Born after 1800

• Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer (1850–1935), English physiologist

Born after 1900

• Natalie Schafer (1900–1991), American actress
• Harold Schafer (1912–2001), American entrepreneur
• Alice Turner Schafer (1915–2009), American mathematician
• Richard D. Schafer (1918–2014), American mathematician
• Roy Schafer (1922–2018), American psychologist-psychoanalyst
• R. Murray Schafer (1933–2021), Canadian composer, writer, music educator and environmentalist
• Ronald W. Schafer (born 1938), American electrical engineer and academic
• Ed Schafer (born 1946), American state politician and United States Secretary of Agriculture

Born after 1950

• Avi Schafer (born 1998), Japanese basketball player
• Tim Schafer (born 1967), American computer game designer
• Arthur Schafer (living), Canadian ethicist and academic
• Eric Schafer (born 1977), American mixed martial artist
• Jordan Schafer (born 1986), American baseball player
• Hunter Schafer (born 1999), American model, activist, and actress
• Sakura Schafer-Nameki, German physicist

Born after 1800

• Károly Schaffer (1864–1939), Hungarian anatomist and neurologist
• Alfréd Schaffer (1893–1945), Hungarian footballer

Born after 1900

• Jimmie Schaffer (born 1936), American baseball player
• Janne Schaffer (born 1945), Swedish songwriter and guitarist

Born after 1950

• Simon Schaffer (born 1955), English academic
• Frank Schaffer (born 1958), East German Olympic athlete
• Bob Schaffer (born 1962), American state politician
• Jon Schaffer (born 1968), American guitarist and songwriter
• Daniel Schaffer (born 1969), British graphic novelist
• Akiva Schaffer (born 1977), American comedy writer and songwriter
• Denny Schaffer (living), American radio personality
• Gail Schaffer (living), American state politician
• Ken Schaffer (living), American inventor
• Lewis Schaffer (born 1957), American comedian
• Jonathan Schaffer (living), American-Australian philosopher

Born after 1800

• Jacob K. Shafer (1823–1876), American national politician
• William T. Shafer (1825–1882), American politician from Pennsylvania
• Orator Shafer (1851–1922), American baseball player
• John Adolph Shafer (1863–1918), American botanist
• Taylor Shafer (1866–1945), American baseball player
• George F. Shafer (1888–1948), American state politician
• Tillie Shafer (1889–1962), American baseball player
• Phil Shafer (1891–1971), American racecar driver
• Paul W. Shafer (1893–1954), American politician

Born after 1900

• Drew Shafer (1936–1989), American gay rights activist
• Raymond P. Shafer (1917–2006), American state politician
• Ruth Shafer (1912 – 1972), American engineer
• Whitey Shafer (1934–2019), American country songwriter and musician

Born after 1950

• Ross Shafer (born 1954), American comedian and motivational speaker
• Robert R. Shafer (born 1958), American actor
• Dirk Shafer (born 1962), American model, actor, screenwriter and director
• Scott Shafer (born 1967), American college football coach
• David Shafer (politician) (born 1965), American politician
• Glenn Shafer, American mathematician, co-developer of Dempster-Shafer theory
• Jack Shafer, American journalist and columnist
• Jeremy Shafer, American entertainer and oragamist
• Justin Shafer (born 1992), American baseball player

Born after 1800

• Shaffer (baseball), baseball player
• John Shaffer (1827–1870), American territorial governor
• John D. Shaffer (1858–1931), American politician in Iowa
• John Shaffer (1864–1926), American baseball player
• Joseph Crockett Shaffer (1880–1958), American national politician
• Harry G. Shaffer (1885–1971), American state politician

Born after 1900

• Anthony Shaffer (writer) (1926–2001), English playwright, novelist, and screenwriter
• David Shaffer (born 1936), American physician
• Earl Shaffer (1918–2002), American outdoorsman and author
• Elaine Shaffer (1925–1973), American flutist
• Harry G. Shaffer (1919-2009), Austrian-American economics academic
• Jack Shaffer (1909–1963), American professional basketball player
• James Shaffer (1910–2014), American religious leader
• Jim G. Shaffer (born 1944), American archeology and anthropology academic
• John H. Shaffer (1919–1997), American government administrator
• Juliet Popper Shaffer (born 1932), American psychologist and statistician
• Lee Shaffer (born 1939), American professional basketball player
• Leland Shaffer (1912–1993), American professional football player
• Louise Shaffer (born 1942), American actress, script writer, and author
• Tim Shaffer (1945-2011), American politician
• Mary Shaffer (born 1947), American artist
• Paul Shaffer (born 1949), Canadian-American musician, actor, author, comedian and composer
• Sir Peter Shaffer (1926–2016), English dramatist and playwright
• Robert H. Shaffer (1915–2017), American educator

Born after 1950

• Anthony Shaffer (born 1962), American Reserve Army Lieutenant Colonel and CIA intelligence officer
• Erica Shaffer (born 1970), American actress
• James Shaffer (born 1970), American guitarist
• Matthew Shaffer (born 1978), American musical theatre, television, and film actor
• Brian Shaffer (born 1979), missing American medical student
• Kevin Shaffer (born 1980), American professional football player
• Atticus Shaffer (born 1998), American actor
• Justin Shaffer (born 1998), American football player
• Brenda Shaffer (living), American political science author
• Chris Shaffer (living), American singer-songwriter
• Deborah Shaffer (living), American filmmaker

• Shafer Valve Company
• Schafferer
• Schieffer
• Sheaffer
• Shepherd (surname)
• Schaap, surname
• Schaper, surname
• Michiel Schapers (b. 1959), Dutch tennis player
• Schaps, surname
• Schapira, surname
• Shapira, surname
• Shapiro, surname
• Shapiro, surname
• All pages with titles beginning with Schaefer
• All pages with titles containing Schaefer