Bielefeld - Name

Recorded in a number of spellings including Bielfeld, Bielefeld, Bilefeld, Bielfeldt and the quite rare Bielfelt, this is a Prussian (German) surname although with some Polish input. It is either locational from a place called "Bilefelt", or topgraphical from residence by high quality agricultural land or perhaps chalky lands. The derivation in both cases is from the ancient Polish word "byel" meaning good, fair or white, and in a transferred sense, chalky. There are a number of other surnames which have the prefix Biel, and all have much the same meanings. These range from Biel itself, meaning a person with white hair, to Bielenberg, the white hill. This surname would seem to be first recorded in 1545, when one Hermann Bilefelt appears in the registers of the town of Livland, and in 1641 when Christian Bielfeldt was recorded as being a citizen of the city of Lubeck. Other later recordings taken from the surviving church registers of the former state of Prussia include: Johannes Bieldfeld, who married Rosina Calbary at the church of Sankt Marie, Bosseborn, on October 21st 1682, and a century later Anne Gertrudis Bielfelt, who married Henricus Daarle at Sankt Marten Roman Catholic church, Ahlen, Westfalen, on June 15th 1777.