Scheeles

Scheeles is a surname of Germanic origin that appears in parts of the Low Countries and northern Germany. It is generally treated as a patronymic derived from the medieval given name Scheel or Scheel, forms common in northern Europe. In some records the final -s is used to indicate a family group or possession, leading to the form Scheeles in genealogical sources. The name is related to, and sometimes conflated with, variants such as Scheele, Scheel, and Schell.

Historical occurrences of Scheeles appear in church and civil registers in the Rhine-Ruhr area, Lower Saxony, and neighboring Dutch provinces from the 16th century onward. During the 18th and 19th centuries, economic and educational changes, as well as emigration, contributed to the dispersion of bearers to North America and other regions. Today the surname remains present in several Western countries, often in communities with Dutch, German, or Scandinavian ancestry.

Scholarly sources on Scheeles are limited, and there are no widely documented individuals with this surname who have achieved broad public recognition. In genealogical research, the name is typically encountered in local records and may correspond to multiple unrelated lineages. See also related surnames such as Scheele and Scheel for etymological context.