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- Dutch origins. A "meulder", "mullder" or "molder", at least in old Dutch dialects, is a "miller" (think of a Dutch wind mill), and referred to the person who operated or owned a wind mill, either for water pumping or for the processing of grains into flower, etc. The first letter "S" in the name stands for "of the" or "from" . Hence, literally translated, the name would me "From the Miller", referring to the descendants of "the Miller". The name appears in several forms including Smeulders, Smolders, Smulders, etc., with each branch of the family adopting their specific form of spelling from about 1800 when official municipal registration of events like births, deaths and of family names became a legal requirement.