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
- 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 professional 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 academic linguist and university professor.
- Born after 1950
- Born after 1800
- 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 (1909–1976), Austrian Olympic figure skater
- Ernst Schäfer (1910–1992), German hunter, zoologist and ornithologist
- Willy Schäfer (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 (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 SAC (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
- Born after 1950
- Born after 1800
- 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
- Born after 1800
- Born after 1900
- Born after 1950
- Simon Schaffer (born 1955), English academic
- Frank Schaffer (born 1958), retired 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
- Born after 1900
- 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 (born 1965), American state 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
- 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
Morten, Oren Frederic; Cole, J.R. (1914), "III. The Old Frontier and the American Highlander", A History of Preston County, West Virginia, Part 1 (Google eBook), vol. 1, Kingwood, West Virginia: The Journal Publishing Company, p. 312, retrieved 14 August 2011