Dekker History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Germany

Etymology of Dekker

What does the name Dekker mean?

Dekker is a name that was formed by the Anglo-Saxon society of old Britain. The name was thought to have been used for someone who once worked as a worker who was a dike or ditch maker.

Early Origins of the Dekker family

The surname Dekker 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 Dekker family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dekker 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 Dekker History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dekker Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Dekker include Dicker, Decker, Deeker, Dyker, Dikkers, Ditcher and many more.

Early Notables of the Dekker family

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...

Dekker Ranking

the United States, the name Dekker is the 13,542^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in Netherlands, the name Dekker is ranked the 18^th most popular surname with an estimated 31,369 people with that name. 3

Dekker migration to the United States +

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Dekker were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records:

Dekker Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jan Broersen Dekker, who arrived in New York in 1658 4

Dekker Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Hendrik Dekker, aged 60, who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847 4
Hendrik Den Dekker, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847 4
Jaantje Den Dekker, who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847 4
Leentje Dekker, aged 5, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847 4
Leentje Den Dekker, who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1847 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Dekker (post 1700) +

Thomas Alexander Dekker (b. 1987), American film, television actor, musician and voice actor
Fred Dekker (b. 1959), American writer and director
Albert Dekker (1905-1968), American character actor and politician, Member of the California State Assembly (1945-1947)
Geertruida Anna "Truus" Dekker (1922-2022), Dutch actress
Theodorus Jozef Dekker (b. 1927), Dutch mathematician
Mark Hamilton Dekker (b. 1969), Zimbabwean cricketer who played 14 Tests and 23 One Day Internationals
Laura Dekker (b. 1995), Dutch sailor who in 2009, become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed at the age of 16
Femke Dekker (b. 1979), Dutch two-times gold and four-times bronze medalist rower
Hendrik "Erik" Dekker (b. 1970), retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist
... (Another 3 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sources +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in Netherlands." Forebears, https://forebears.io/netherlands/surnames
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)