Given name & surname

Pfeiffer

“piper”

Pfeiffer is a surname from German. It is used in English and German.

Original GermanPiper

Meaning & origin

What it means

Pfeiffer goes back to German Pfeiffer, meaning “piper.”

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where it comes from

Pfeiffer comes from German.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

From German Pfeiffer (“piper”).

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2012. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Pfeiffer through the years

Babies since 1880
68
0 boys · 68 girls
Most popular year
2018
10 babies
2025
5
#16,682 for girls
2021–25 vs 2016–20
−32%
Easing
02462025Highest share 20183.1
Pfeiffer in U.S. Social Security birth records, 2012–2025, per million girls born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 16,682 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 10 in 2018. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 13,503 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Pfeiffer’s family of names

In German usage, Pfeiffer as a surname has a related form in Piper. In German usage, Pfeiffer as a surname has a related form in PEIFER. In German usage, Pfeiffer as a surname has a related form in PEIFFER.

Walk Pfeiffer’s family in the name graph

PfeifferPiperPieperPfeiferPeiperPeifferPeiferPiepereitPieferPfyfferPfifferPfeufferPfeuferPfeiflePfeiffert

The ring: nicknames and forms.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

People named Pfeiffer

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

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Sibling ideas

Names that share Pfeiffer’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Pfeiffer

A sister for Pfeiffer