The name of Schafalpenköpfe comes from the south and refers to the rocky summits (Felsköpfe) above the alpine sheep pastures (Schäfalpen) of the Taufersbergalpe, an alpine meadow. The name first appears as Schäfalpenkopf and Schäfalpenköpfl in 1819 in an old survey sheet of the Bavarian State Office for Survey and Geoinformation in Munich. An 1844 description of the border includes the words: über den ersten Schafalpenkopf, über den zweiten Schafalpenkopf, bis zu dem dritten Schafalpenkopf (over the first Schafalpenkopf, over the second Schafalpenkopf to the third Schafalpenkopf).