It originates as a byname, literally "peasants' enemy", in the late medieval period, before that (12th century) a comparable Geburenhasz is on record.
The form Geburnvint is found in the poem Der Renner (c. 1290) as a generic byname of "villains".
Historical spelling variants include Pawrnfeynt, Pawrveint, Gebure vient.
Later, the byname was generically applied to men-at-arms or Landsknechte who chastised the peasant population in the service of a feudal lord.
As of 2013 the name had 748 entries in the German telephone directory, with the greatest concentration in Bavaria, and 398 entries for the variant Bauerfeind, with a concentration in North Rhine-Westphalia.