Stauffer (also commonly spelled Stouffer and Stover in North America) is a German surname, the origin of which derives from the Proto-German word staupa, meaning steep. Staupa and its Middle High German descendant, stouf, evolved to mean, among other things, a steep hill or mountain. Many of these hills and mountains serve as the basis for the names of such places as Donaustauf, Hohenstaufen, Staufenberg, Regenstauf, Staufen im Breisgau, and the Staufens of Switzerland and Austria. Stauffer surnames derive from these hills. The Swiss Mennonite Stauffers common in the U.S. and Canada derive their name from a hill called Stouffe or Stauffenalp just southwest of the town of Röthenbach im Emmental in Switzerland.