Find out how popular the last name Hecker is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Hecker.

Hecker, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Hecker surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hecker in America

Hecker is the 6454th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hecker surname appeared 5,260 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Hecker.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hecker to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Hecker

The surname Hecker has its origins in Germany, with records dating back to the early 16th century. The name is derived from the German word "Hecker," which means "warder" or "hedge watcher," referring to someone who guarded or maintained hedges or fences around fields or properties.

Hecker was initially found in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and the surrounding areas. It is believed to have originated as an occupational surname, given to individuals whose profession involved guarding or maintaining hedges and boundaries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hecker can be found in the church records of Nürnberg, Germany, from the year 1537, where a man named Hans Hecker was mentioned. Additionally, the name appears in the historical records of the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, located in northern Bavaria, in the late 16th century.

In the 17th century, a notable individual with the surname Hecker was Johann Julius Hecker (1625-1675), a German botanist and physician who wrote several influential works on plant life and medicinal plants.

Moving into the 18th century, the name Hecker gained prominence with Friedrich Karl Hecker (1811-1881), a German revolutionary and leader of the republican movement during the revolutions of 1848-1849 in Germany. He played a significant role in the uprisings against the monarchy and the fight for democratic reforms.

Another notable figure with the Hecker surname was Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker (1795-1850), a German philologist and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek and Latin literature.

In the 19th century, Johann Baptist Hecker (1813-1888) was a German Catholic priest and missionary who played a crucial role in establishing the Catholic Church in Texas, United States. He founded several parishes and worked tirelessly to spread Catholicism in the region.

The surname Hecker has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Heckershausen, a village in the state of Hesse, and Heckertshauser, a district in the town of Bühl, Baden-Württemberg. These place names likely derived from the surname itself, indicating areas where individuals with the Hecker name settled or held significant influence.

While the surname Hecker is predominantly of German origin, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and immigration patterns. However, its roots can be traced back to the early modern period in southern Germany, where it was closely associated with the occupation of hedge or boundary maintenance.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hecker

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Hecker.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Hecker was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Hecker has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Hecker was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Hecker, please contact us.

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