Recker
A masculine name of English origin meaning "reckoner" or "accountant".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Recker. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Recker today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Recker births was 2019 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Recker. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Recker. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2019
6 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2019 SSA rank
#11,825
Tracked since 2019
Popularity
Recker: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Recker by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Recker during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Recker
The name Recker is believed to have originated from the Germanic language family, specifically the Old High German word "rekko," which means "powerful" or "strong." This name likely emerged during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 10th centuries AD, in regions that are now part of modern-day Germany and Austria.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Recker can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, dating back to the 11th century. In this text, a nobleman named Recker von Meissen is mentioned as a landowner and influential figure in the region.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Recker remained prevalent among the nobility and aristocracy of Germanic regions. Several historical figures bore this name, including Recker von Staufen (1123-1190), a German Count and military commander who participated in the Crusades, and Recker von Nürnberg (1285-1349), a prominent merchant and banker in the city of Nuremberg.
As the use of surnames became more widespread in Europe, the name Recker also began to appear as a surname, often indicating a person's occupation or place of origin. For example, the surname Recker could have been derived from the Old High German word "recchen," meaning "to stretch out" or "to extend," potentially referring to someone who worked with ropes or fabrics.
In the 15th century, a notable figure named Recker von Weikersheim (1410-1478) was a German knight and diplomat who served under the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. His exploits and travels across Europe helped to spread the name Recker to other regions.
During the Renaissance period, the name Recker continued to be used, although it became less common among the nobility. One notable individual was Recker Holbein (1497-1543), a German artist and printmaker who worked in Basel, Switzerland, and is known for his intricate woodcut illustrations and portraits of prominent figures of the time.
As the centuries passed, the name Recker became increasingly rare, but it has persisted in various forms and spellings throughout Germanic-speaking regions. While not as widespread as some other names, Recker remains a unique and historically significant moniker with roots in the powerful and influential nobility of medieval Europe.
People
Recker + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Recker as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Recker: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Recker?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Recker going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Recker a common name?
We classify Recker as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Recker most popular?
The single biggest year for Recker was 2019, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Recker is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Recker in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Recker a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Recker in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Recker still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Recker in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Recker can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Recker?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.