The spelling of the word "schoonover" is phonetically represented as /ˈʃuːnəʊvər/. The word is composed of two parts: "schoon", which is spelled phonetically as /ʃuːn/ and means "clean" or "pure", and "over", which is spelled phonetically as /ˈəʊvər/ and means "on top of" or "above". When put together, "schoonover" creates a surname that likely would have been given to someone who lived near a clean or pure body of water and was situated above them, such as a hill or mountain.