Vickers
Usually a surname from "vicar" or "vicar's son," with some forms also linked to residence at the vicarage.
The #1,625 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,923 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a development of Vicars, meaning "the vicar's" or "the vicar's son," from the medieval title vicar. In older English usage, surnames of this type often marked a family relationship or association with an office-holder. Some early writers also suggested a locational sense, referring to someone living at or near the vicarage.
History
The surname is recorded in medieval English sources, including a Yorks Poll-Tax reference from 1379. Later surname dictionaries mostly treated Vickers as a variant of Vicars, though some noted that local pronunciation and spelling could also create forms that looked distinct. The name remains fairly common in England and is also well established in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Victorian surname writers often grouped Vickers with a whole family of related forms—Vicars, Vickery, Vickerson, and Vickress—all treated as spelling or pronunciation cousins rather than separate origins.
From the historical record
“Yorks Poll-Tax, A.D. 1379. VICKERS = Vicars, q.v. VICKERSON, (the) Vicar's Son : v. Vicar. VICKERY = Vicary, q.v. VICKESS for Vicars, q.v. VICKRESS, (the) Vicary's (Son) : v. Vicary. VICKRIDGE, V. Vicl<erage.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)