meaning of the name

Schönewald (Beautiful Forest)

Surnames often change spelling and pronunciation over time and it is always possible that two people bearing the name Schönewald or Schonewald are not genetically related, their names may either be a misspelling of a different names altogether, or their family may have assumed the name at some point in their history - a common event in the history of migrant families.

The name Schönewald (Schönwald, Schoenwald & Schoenewald) is a branch of the name Schön.

Schön is a German surname, which means handsome or beautiful, from the Middle High German schoene, meaning “beautiful’, ‘refined’.

The German (Schönwald) and Jewish (Ashkenazic) name can be an habitational name from any of several places named Schönwald.

In Jewish (Ashkenazic) origins the name is an ornamental name composed of German schön ‘beautiful’ + Wald ‘wood or forest’.