What is the nationality of the last name, Stiller?

Question:

What is the nationality of the last name, Stiller?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The name could be either English or German.

If it's English, it's probably from an occupational term for a fisherman or trapper, from an Old English word <stiell>, <still>, meaning "place for catching fish" or "trap for wild animals".

If it's German, it's either a descriptive name for a quiet, peaceful person, or a locative byname (a name that describes a person's place of residence or origin) based on a river and town name <Stille> (in Thuringia) or <Still> (in Alsace).

However, as others have said, in genealogy it's generally better to look at the *person* rather than his or her name. One reason for this is that names mutate, sometimes more than once within a person's lifetime. Another reason is that a person bearing the surname Stiller may not actually have been either German or English: many people in, say, Poland or Hungary have names of German origin, and many families in Ireland and Scotland have English names.