Stoker
An occupational surname for someone who tended a furnace or fire; in some cases it may reflect a connection to a place called Stoke.
The #5,082 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,824 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English, Stoker is usually explained as an occupational name for a person who stoked or tended a fire, especially a furnace or boiler. The word is also connected with the older place-name element Stoke, so some families may instead descend from a place-based surname derived from one of the many places called Stoke. A Dutch parallel, stoker, also means a fire-tender, which may have influenced or reinforced the surname in some cases.
History
The surname appears in medieval English records in forms such as Stokker and Stoker, and later became established as both a surname and an occupational label. Genealogical sources from the 19th century treated it mainly as an occupation surname, though some also linked it with Stoke-based forms. In modern English-speaking countries it is relatively uncommon but recognizably survives as a family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers sometimes glossed Stoker simply as “one who has charge of a furnace.”
From the historical record
“2 conf. with Stockley, q.v, STOKER (Eng.) i = Stoke (q.v.) -|- the E. agent, suff. -er. 2 conf. with Stockep, q.v. (Dut.) Fire-Tender [Dut. stoker'\ STOKES (Eng.) i pi., and genit., of Stoke, q.v. 2 conf. with Stocks, q.v. Petrus de Stokes (Kent). —”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)