Eggers
A German and Dutch surname that likely developed as a shortened form of old personal names such as Eckhart or similar names beginning with Eck-.
The #4,479 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,978 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Eggers is generally explained as a shortened form of older Germanic personal names, especially names beginning with Eck- or Eg- such as Eckhart. In the historical name-building pattern, a first name was clipped and then inherited as a family surname. Some 19th-century sources also group Eggers with related forms like Egger and Eggert, showing that it belongs to a wider Germanic naming family rather than a single fixed root.
History
The name is well attested in German-speaking areas and in Dutch records, and it appears in English surname dictionaries chiefly as a continental import. It later spread through migration, especially to English-speaking countries such as the United States. The surname is also found in modern German and North American usage.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 20th-century German surname study explicitly notes Eggers as a form arising from Eckhart-type names.
From the historical record
“Egarr. N. Heggr (a kind of tree, prunus padus ) ; F. Egge ; A. ; Eger, Eggers ; Dch. Eggers ; G. if Eger; p.n. Or A.S. Egger, / Hithelgar (noble spear) Egerton. A loc. n., Kent,”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)