English (mainly northeastern England and West Yorkshire):
habitational name from either of two places in Cumbria, or from
one in the parish of Halsall, near Ormskirk, Lancashire. The Cumbrian
places are probably named from Middle English hart ‘male deer’
+ kerr ‘marshland’. The one in Lancashire has the same second
element, while the first is probably Old English har ‘gray’
or hara ‘hare’.
nickname for an eavesdropper or busybody,
from an agent derivative of Middle English herkien ‘to listen’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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