Stocker
Usually an occupational surname for someone who grubbed up tree stumps or worked with timber, though it can also be a variant of Stoker.
The #5,310 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,058 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained from Middle English stock, meaning a stump or trunk, plus the agent suffix -er, giving the sense of “one who works with stumps” or “one who roots them up.” Historical notes in the dictionaries connect it with a West of England verb meaning to grub out roots and tree-stumps. Because the name is also close to Stoker, some bearers may reflect spelling confusion or overlapping forms.
History
The name is attested in medieval records in forms such as le Stocker and Stokker. 19th-century surname writers linked it especially with rural work in tree-felling, land clearing, or stump-grubbing in western England. It remains a relatively uncommon English surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A very similar occupational sense survives in dialect collections: a stocker was someone employed to clear tree stumps from the ground.
From the historical record
“STOCKEN, a M.E. pi. form of Stock, q.v. STOCKER (Eng.) i = Stock (q.v.) + the agept. suff. -er. (later) 2 a Grubber-Up (of tree-stumps) [Dial. E. stock, to grub or root up] 3 conf. with Stoker, q.v, Elena le Stocker. — Hund. Rolls, A.D. 1274. Walter Stokker.—”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)