Alcocer
A Spanish surname most likely tied to place-names, probably meaning someone from a town or site called Alcocer.
The #8,867 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,603 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most likely locational, referring to a person from a place called Alcocer or a similar place-name in Spain. The place-name is generally taken to come from Arabic elements, often explained as al- plus a word related to a fortress or hilltop site, though the exact original sense is not always treated as certain in older sources. In short, the name points to geographic origin rather than to a trade or personal characteristic.
History
Alcocer appears in Spanish surname lists as part of a broad family of place-based names beginning with Al-, many of them reflecting Iberian Arabic influence. Bearers of the name would have been identified by their home town or local district, and the surname later spread through Spain and to the Americas. The form is relatively uncommon today, but it remains recognizably Hispanic in distribution.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name sits in a larger cluster of Spanish surnames shaped by medieval Arabic place-names, which is why it sounds similar to Alcázar, Alcántara, and Alcaraz.
From the historical record
“bear, Albeniz, Alberola, Albiñana, Albistur, Al- bolafia, Albuerne, Alcacer, Alcalá, Alcántara, Alca- raz. Alcázar, Alcoba, Alcocer, Alcover, Aldana, Aldaz, Aledo, Alegría, Alenza, Aleson, Alfaro, Alfonsin, Algar, Algarra, Alhama, Alhambra, Al- hamilla, ^Vliaga, Alique, Almagro, xUmansa, Al-”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos