German (also Häcker), Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic):
occupational name for a butcher, possibly also for a woodcutter, from
an agent derivative of Middle High German hacken, Dutch
hakken ‘to hack’, ‘to chop’. The Jewish surname may be from
Yiddish heker ‘butcher’, holtsheker ‘woodcutter’ (German
Holzhacker), or valdheker ‘lumberjack’, or from German
Hacker ‘woodchopper’.
English (chiefly Somerset):
from an agent derivative of Middle English hacken ‘to hack’,
hence an occupational name for a woodcutter or, perhaps, a maker of
hacks (hakkes), a word used in Middle English to denote
a variety of agricultural tools such as mattocks and hoes.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The hacker name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the hacker family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the hacker last name.