Yocum
A surname probably linked to a German or Dutch word for a yoke, suggesting an occupational nickname for someone who handled oxen or a yoke team.
The #5,353 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,470 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a shortened or altered form of a Germanic word related to a yoke, with some older writers connecting it to forms like Yockam, Yocam, or Yokam. In that reading, the name would have described someone associated with a yoke team of oxen, either literally as a handler or more loosely as a farmer. The exact pathway is not fully certain, and some early surname writers offered speculative spellings and explanations.
History
The name is well established in the United States, especially in Pennsylvania and nearby regions, where variant spellings such as Yocum and Yocom appear in older records. Nineteenth-century surname commentators treated it as a Germanic name, but their explanations vary in detail and should be read cautiously. The surname has persisted in several spellings, reflecting the usual instability of immigrant surname spelling in English-speaking records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers sometimes glossed this family of names as meaning “yoke-house” or “one who has charge of a yoke of oxen,” showing how strongly occupational nicknames shaped early surname interpretation.
From the historical record
“rough, C.W. ; and the postmaster of Wainfieet Centre, C.W., is named Yokem. In Philadelphia I find families of Yocom and Yocum. Mr. Prey lives at Alburg, Vt. ; Mr. Buckmaster, at Mount Holly, Vt. ; and a Mr. Hind, at Letter D, Me. Mr. Stagman lives at West Chester, Pa. Herder is a German classic ; and that name is…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)