Zacker last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Zacker

A German surname derived from the Biblical name Zacchaeus.

Zacker, 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 Zacker surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zacker in America

Zacker is the 86645th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zacker surname appeared 215 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Zacker.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zacker 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 86645 73659 16.20%
Count 215 245 -13.04%
Proportion per 100k 0.07 0.09 -25.00%

The history of the last name Zacker

The surname Zacker is of German origin, dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to have originated in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony. The name likely stems from the Middle High German word "zacke," which means prong or point, perhaps referring to a person who was a maker of tools with pronged ends or had a pointed characteristic.

The surname Zacker does not appear frequently in ancient texts, but variations of the name such as Zack, Zaccharias, or Zacher have been noted. One early record of the name can be found in the year 1331 in a Saxon manuscript listing a "Heinrich Zaccher" as a landowner. This indicates that the name was in use during the 14th century in the German-speaking regions.

Another early record comes from a 15th-century Bavarian tax roll where a "Johann Zacker" is mentioned as a merchant. This suggests that bearers of the surname were involved in trade and commerce during the Middle Ages.

Throughout history, different spellings of the name have emerged. In the 16th century, a "Peter Zacker" was noted in municipal records from Vienna, indicating the geographical spread and variation in spelling as families moved or adapted to different dialects and local languages.

In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the surname was a "Friedrich Zacher," an academic who published works on natural history. Born in 1745 and active during the Enlightenment, Friedrich contributed to the scientific community and is one of the distinguished figures with a variant of the name.

The name continued to appear in various forms across Europe. For instance, a "Martha Zacker" is listed in a 19th-century Prussian registry as managing a family estate, showcasing the broader social roles and statuses achieved by individuals bearing the surname.

By the 20th century, the surname Zacker had made its way beyond Europe. An example is "Karl Zacker," born in 1903, who emigrated to the United States and contributed to the arts as a composer and conductor, leaving a mark on American music history.

In summary, the surname Zacker has Germanic origins, rooted in the medieval period with connections to the word "zacke." Through various historical records and notable individuals, the name showcases a rich legacy of diverse roles from landowners and merchants to academics and artists. The variations in spelling and geographic spread reflect the dynamic history of the surname Zacker.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zacker

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

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 Zacker was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 88.84% 191
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.33% 5
Hispanic Origin 6.05% 13

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 Zacker has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 88.84% 93.47% -5.08%
Black (S)% 2.45% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.33% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 6.05% 2.86% 71.60%

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 Zacker was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

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"Zacker last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/zacker-surname-popularity/.

"Zacker last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/zacker-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Zacker last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/zacker-surname-popularity/.

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