Cockerham
A habitational surname taken from Cockerham, a place in Lancashire, England.
The #6,943 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,922 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cockerham is a habitational surname, meaning “from Cockerham,” the Lancashire parish that gave the name to the family. The place-name is recorded in early forms such as Domesday spellings and is generally understood to be built from the river name Cocker plus Old English hām, meaning “homestead,” “village,” or “estate.” So the surname originally identified someone who came from that place.
History
The name appears in English surname collections as a local surname from Lancashire, and related spellings include Cockram and Cookeram. Because Cockerham was a small place-name, the surname was probably carried by people who moved away from the village and were identified by their origin. Modern bearers are found well beyond Lancashire, especially in English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The place behind the surname sits by the little River Cocker, which likely helped shape the name of the village itself.
From the historical record
“Been o< the loM-ne the ale-cooner.' A eoHfirmalioH by John, Abbot of Cockerham, Lancashire, i Ric. HI, says, ill regulating the price of beer, ' Yai sail gyf Ale-fwnders a fwnd- ing galoQ or else a taste of ylke vessel!,' Sec. ; Baincs' Lane. ii. 5S8. ThU word is neither in Halliwell”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances