Recorded in many spellings including Schild, Schilde, Schildt, Schilds, Schildau, Schildbach,Schildberger, Schilder, Schildhelm and many more, this is a Germanic surname. Translating as shield or protector, it is one of a large group of similar and originally personal names, there were no surnames befor the 12th century, which were created in that period of history known rightly as "The Dark Ages", from about the time of the fall of the Roman Empire in 412 a.d. to the Conquest of England by the Normans in 1066. During this roughly seven hundred years chaos reined in much of the known world, which as far as Europeans were concerned was Europe, and people prayed for strong government with fairness. It was a long time coming if it ever did, and during this time "names" were created around the hoped for future. A shield being a defensive weapon was the centre piece of protection, and perfoms a similar role in heraldry. In this case the surname is first known to be recorded in Germany in 1294 with that of Johannes dem Schilt, the Burger of Hannover, whilst Casper Schilde was recorded in Wiesderitzsch in 1482.

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