Coker
A surname usually from a Somerset place-name, and sometimes linked to a charcoal-burner.
The #1,541 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,224 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as locational, from Coker in Somerset, a place-name associated with the family early on. Older surname dictionaries also note a possible secondary connection with an occupational sense: a person involved with charcoal, related to the idea of something "cooked" or charred. In practice, the surname is best understood as "from Coker," with the occupational explanation more speculative.
History
Medieval records show forms such as de Coker, pointing to an origin as a place-based byname. One Somerset family was associated with the name by the 13th century, and the surname later spread beyond the county into other parts of England and, much later, to North America. The spelling Coker has remained the standard form, though older records show a few variant spellings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower’s 19th-century dictionary notes that the surname was already tied to Somerset place-names in medieval records.
From the historical record
“form of Cook. COKER. 1. The original meaning of coJie is charcoal, prepared or ' cooked' by a Coker, or charcoal-burner. 2. Two pa- rishes in CO. Somerset, with which one family were associated as early at least as 1272. B.L.G. COKEYNE. See Cockaigne. COLBOURNE. A township in York- shire.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom