Hooker
An English surname that usually means “maker of hooks,” though some families may take it from a place-name or topographic hook.
The #2,185 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,548 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hooker is most commonly explained as an occupational surname from Middle English hooke, “hook,” with the agent suffix -er, meaning “one who makes hooks.” Some early writers also noted a topographic sense: someone who lived by a hook-shaped bend, nook, or corner in the landscape. A less likely sense in older lexicography is “shoplifter” or “cunning filcher,” but that is usually treated as a word meaning rather than the main surname source.
History
The surname is well established in England by the medieval period and later spread widely in English-speaking countries. Nineteenth-century surname scholars generally treated the craft meaning as the chief origin, while acknowledging a smaller number of local or descriptive explanations. The name is famous through the English theologian Richard Hooker, which helped keep it recognizable in later centuries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical dictionary jokingly notes how strange it would be to hear of a “Judicious Hooker” if the name were taken in the sense of “thief.”
From the historical record
“wailing the death of her sons. HOOKER. 1 . See Hook, and the termi- nation EE. 2. A maker of hooks. HOOKEY. HOOKEYE. Probably local. The latter orthography makes a curious compound, and reminds us of one of Douglas Jerrold's witticisms. When asked if he knew Theodore Hook, he replied: " Oh yes, Hook and I are very…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom