Baker
An occupational surname for a person who baked bread, pastries, or other goods.
The #44 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 736 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Baker comes from the occupation itself: a person who baked bread and related foods. The name is formed from the common English trade word, ultimately from Old English and Middle English forms used for a baker or bread maker. Medieval records often show it in Latinized or French-influenced spellings such as Pistor or le Bakere.
History
Baker is one of the classic English occupational surnames and appears early in medieval records. It became especially common because baking was a basic and widespread trade in towns and villages. The surname spread broadly in England and later became very common in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
It is one of the most common occupational surnames in the English-speaking world.
From the historical record
“dissement of Evreux, in Normandy. BAKER. The occupation. In old do- cuments, Pistor, Le Bakere, &:c. BAKEWELL. A market town and great parish in Derbyshire. ^^BAL. A Gaelic local prefix which, like Bally, in Ireland, implies a town, or rather a central seat of population on a single estate — the homestead ; in…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Baker
- Josephine Baker (1906–1975)
- Philip Noel-Baker (1889–1982)
- Carroll Baker (b. 1931)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.