Ricker
A surname of Germanic origin, probably from an old personal name meaning “mighty army.”
The #4,016 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,887 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical explanation treats Ricker as a reduced form of an old Germanic personal name such as Rikheri or Richere. These names combine a first element related to rule or power with a second element meaning “army” (from Old High German heri / Old English here). In that sense, the name would have meant something like “ruler of the army” or “mighty army.”
History
Nineteenth-century surname dictionaries often grouped Ricker with German forms of Richard and related names such as Richert and Ricker(t). It appears in English-language sources as a surname especially through German immigration, though the name also has related spellings in French and Flemish traditions. The form Ricker is usually treated as one of several regional or spelling variants of the same Germanic name family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older onomastic works explicitly gloss Ricker as “mighty army,” showing how strongly medieval name-elements shaped later surnames.
From the historical record
“2 for Ricketson, q.v. RiCKER (Teut.) Mighty Army • [O.Teut. Rikheri, Richere, etc. : v. under Rick, and + O.L.Ger. heri = O.E. here = O.N. herr ' = Goth, harji-s, army] The mod. French form is Riquer. Cp. Richer.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)