Bauernfeind (variant Bauerfeind) is a German surname. It originates as a byname, literally "peasants' enemy", in the late medieval period, before that (12th century) a comparable Geburenhasz is on record. The form Geburnvint is found in the poem Der Renner (c. 1290) as a generic byname of "villains". Historical spelling variants include Pawrnfeynt, Pawrveint, Gebure vient. Specific individuals with the byname are on record in the 15th century, so Heintz von Redwitz. Later, the byname was generically applied to men-at-arms or Landsknechte who chastised the peasant population in the service of a feudal lord. The gradual development into a surname takes place in the course of the 16th century. The name has survived into the contemporary period, with currently (as of 2013) 748 entries in the German phonebook, the greatest concentration of people with the name found in Bavaria, and 398 entries for the variant Bauerfeind, with a concentration in North Rhine-Westphalia.
People with the surname: