Spiker
Likely an occupational or nickname surname connected with a spike, nail, or pointed tool.
The #9,405 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,310 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is probably connected with a word for a spike or nail, and may have started as a nickname or job-related name for someone who made, used, or sold spikes. Some older writers also linked it to Low German forms such as spiker-nagel, meaning a spike-nail. Because the historical evidence is thin, the exact route into English surname use is not fully secure.
History
The name is recorded in American surname lists in the 19th century, and it appears to have been understood then as one of several occupational-style surnames. Some sources grouped it with other names based on tools, trades, or objects, which fits the likely sense. As with many short surnames, spelling may also have varied with immigration and local recordkeeping.
Origin
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Fun fact
A 19th-century writer compared Spiker to other surnames formed from everyday trades and tools, showing how ordinary objects often became family names.
From the historical record
“quoting Rapin-Thoyras [the surname prob. represents a nickname f. the Low Ger. spiker-nagel = Mod. High Ger. speichemagel, E. 'spike-nail' (whence prob. the E. plant-name 'spicknel', 'spignel'] These Bohuns were by inheritance for a good while the Kings Spigumelh, that is, the Sealers of his Writs. —”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)