Hockenberry
An Americanized surname likely built from a place-name or older Germanic family name, with the ending shaped by English spelling habits.
The #8,114 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,562 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hockenberry is not a standard old surname form with a single well-established derivation, so its origin is uncertain. It is likely an Americanized spelling shaped by English speakers from a German or Germanic surname, or from a local place-name containing a personal name plus a berry/topographic element. The first element may reflect a form related to a personal name such as Hock/Haug/Hagen, while the second element was later written in an English-looking way as -berry.
History
The surname appears to be chiefly North American in its present spelling. Like many German-American surnames, it may have been altered in form after immigration to fit English spelling and pronunciation habits. Because the name is relatively uncommon, its precise lineage can vary from one family branch to another.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The berry-like ending is probably misleading: in many surnames, spellings that look like ordinary English words are the result of later reshaping, not a literal reference to fruit.