Springborn is a surname of Low German origin.
The surname Springborn goes back to the place of living of the first carrier of that surname in medieval times, who lived in the vicinity of a spring or water well. "Springborn" is of German, specifically Middle Low German origin. Its two parts have the meaning sprink = ‚spring‘,[1] and born = ‚well‘.[2] Because the surname came into being in the region of the Low German language it is not surprising that most of the Springborns in Germany are to find in Northern German states.
The same meaning as the surname has the former German village Springborn (East Prussia), which since 1945 belongs to Poland as Stoczek Klasztorny. But the surname does not originate in that region.
Springborn is, referring to the German telephone directory of 2002, in its frequency a moderate appearing surname in Germany (228 entries). Most of the Springborns of them live in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, followed by Berlin and Brandenburg. But measured to its low population is the part of surname carriers for Springborn in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern high too.
On the district level there is a special concentration in the district of Uckermark in Brandenburg and its neighbored (former) districts of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Uecker-Randow in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and in the districts of Oberhavel, Barnim and Märkisch-Oderland in Brandenburg. This concentration of the surname can be a hint to the region of origin of the surname, but doesn't have to. It is also possible that several families got that surname because of the origin in a place without being related.
Through emigration families of German origin brought that surname to America. Today the surname is primarily to find in states at the Great Lakes in the North of the USA. Most of the US American Springborns live in Wisconsin, followed by Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio. The count is low in other states.[3]