Show ContentsDeeker History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The origins of the Deeker surname lie with the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name Deeker began when someone in that family worked as a worker who was a dike or ditch maker.

Early Origins of the Deeker family

The surname Deeker was first found in East Sussex and either Upper Dicker or Lower Dicker, villages that date back to 1229 where they were listed as Diker.

The place name is derived from the Middle English word "dyker" which means "ten" as in a plot of land for which ten iron rods were paid in rent. 1

Early History of the Deeker family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Deeker research. Another 258 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1210, 1296, 1327, 1379, 1572, 1577, 1600, 1625, 1628, 1631, 1632 and 1637 are included under the topic Early Deeker History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Deeker Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Deeker has appeared include Dicker, Decker, Deeker, Dyker, Dikkers, Ditcher and many more.

Early Notables of the Deeker family

Notables of the family at this time include Thomas Dekker (c. 1572-1632), an English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer. "His birthplace was London, as he intimates in ‘The Seuen Deadly Sinnes,’ 1600, and in ‘A Rod for Run-awayes,’ 1625. In ‘Warres, Warres, Warres,’ a tract published in 1628, he describes himself as an old man; and in the dedication to ‘Match...
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Deeker Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Deeker family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Deeker arrived in North America very early: John, Joanna, and Michael Dykers who settled in New Haven Conn. in 1823; C.H. Decker settled in Baltimore Maryland in 1820; Casper, Christopher, Fred, George, Henry and John Decker all settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1773 and 1856.



  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)


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