41,578 Global Croaker Family Members

Croaker Family History

Family spelling variants include Croker and Croaker

There are approximately 41,578 Crocker family members around the world. In general you can double this figure to include those related to the Crocker names to allow for those connected to the name through maiden name connections.

It is estimated that the largest group of Crocker family members live in USA with 27,790 (66.8%) members, England with 5,027 (12.1%) members, Canada with 3,867 (9.3%) members, Australia with 2,547 (6.1%) members, South African with 1,113 (2.7%) members, Wales with 572 (1.4%) members, New Zealand with 504 (1.2%) members and Scotland with 122 (0.3%) members. 

In 1881 census, the surname was recorded having 3,937 occurrences in England and Wales and a fewer 7 occurrences in Scotland. The surname was frequent in South West England, especially Devon with 1,111 occurrences. 

In 1881, the most common Crocker occupation in the UK was Farmer, along with Agricultural Labourer and Labourer reported as the top 3 jobs worked. A less common occupation for the Crocker family was Mason. 

A Norman-English habitational name for various places in Normandy, France, called Crèvecoeur (‘heartbreak’), from Old French creve(r) meaning ‘to break or destroy’, ‘to die’ + ceur ‘heart’, a reference to the infertility and unproductiveness of the land. It derives from the villages of 'Crevecoeur' found in the Departments of Calvados, Oise, and Nord, in Normandy and has in the modern spellings, several variant forms. 'Crevecoeur' translates literally as 'heart-break', a reference to the infertility and unproductiveness of the land, so no doubt the original name holders were pleased to come to England.

An English occupational name for a potter, from Middle English croke(ke) ‘earthen pot’, deriving from Old English croc, crocca. From ancient Anglo-Saxon culture, it was originally a name for someone who worked as a "grower of saffron," one of the most sought after and expensive spices. Alternatively, the name could have been from an occupation as in "the crocker," a potter, a maker of crocks, from Middle English word "crokke," similarly an earthen pitcher. The word crock signified a large barrel—shaped jar.

An Americanised spelling of German Krocker.

Early bearers of the surname include: John le Crockare, 1275 in Subsidy Rolls (Worcs); Simon le Crockere, 1279 in Hundred Rolls (Oxon); Henry le Crokere, 1288 in Fransson (Sussex); Robertus Crocker', 1377 in Poll Tax (Plympton Erle, Devon); John Crocker, 1521 in PROB 11 (Lynham, Devon); Simon Crocker, 1613 in PROB 11 (Cullompton, Devon).

Mr. M Crocker was a British settler, travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 19th March 1858.

The noted, Mary Lou Daniel Crocker (1944-2016) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. 

The fictional Betty Crocker was used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes for the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921, which was later bought by General Mills in 1954.

1881, 1891 Census

1881 Census in Devon

Dictionary of American Family Homes, P Hanks OUP 2003

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, H.B. Guppy, London 1890

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, P.Hanks, Coats, McClure OUP 2016

1860 Lower, Mark A Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom, London: J.R Smith. Public Domain

1857 Arthur, William An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain

http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html

J.M.P