Koffler Name Origin

The origin of family names goes back to the 13th and 14th centuries. The four basic types of family names can be described in terms of their historical origin: Surnames derived from the first name of the father (patronymics), surnames derived from nicknames, surnames derived from a trade or occupation, and surnames derived from the name of a locality or from some feature of the landscape, such as Koffler which means (dwells in the mountains). According to research by Martin Burkart, the Kofflers were probably living in the mountains. According to the Austrian dictionary a Kofl (Kofel) is a rocky mountain or the top of the mountain. After the 30-years-war (1618-1648) many emigrants came to the deserted country of Baden from Tyrol and from other parts of Austria and also from Switzerland. The first Koffler in Durmersheim [for which records exist] is Rupert Koffler, married in 1666. (Click the link near the bottom of this page for a look at a family generation report which shows Koffler lineage from about 1650). The name "Kofler" originates from "Kofl" which describes certain mountains in Southern Tirol and Carinthia, i.e., Langkofl, Elferkofl,etc. It is supposed that the first farmer who settled near such a "Kofl" was called "Kofler". His neighbor who settled above got the name "Oberkofler" (Ober means over, above) and the neighbor who settled below was called "Unterkofler" (Unter means under, below). According to Martin Burkart many of the Kofflers left Durmersheim and Wuermersheim and emigrated to Hungary, Bessarabia and Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. (Burkart is a former Durmersheim resident now residing in Switzerland. He can be reached at martin.burkart@bluewin.ch

According to Gemjager Undercofler, Gemjager@aol.com there are many variations of the Koffler surname spelling today. From the research that has been done, the Koffler name may have originated in Austria in an area that is now part of Italy near the town of Bolzano which is in the southern part of Tyrol, an Austrian province. The name means people who lived in the foothills of a mountain. "Kofler", according to another interpretation, means a cone-shaped mountain.