Daily AncestorBauer
Bauer is German for "farmer" or "peasant"; in old records it usually means a man who held a full farm, not a farmhand or cottager.
In the village ranking of old Germany a Bauer held or worked a farm of his own. Records used many finer terms: Vollbauer for a full-sized farm, Halbbauer for a smaller one, and words such as Häusler, Kötter or Einlieger for people with little or no land.
Bauer is also one of the most common German surnames, so in a list of names decide whether it is a job or a family name. In chess and cards it means the pawn or the jack.
Look it up: old jobs, causes of death, Latin, abbreviations, nicknames and more.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Bauer." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/german/bauer. Last checked 2026-10-28.