NORFOLK SURNAMES: S

SECKER:

This name is the more common form these days of Sacker, or one who makes sacks. There may be some examples also amongst immigrant families from Germany where Middle Low German used the term seck to describe a wetland and a secker was one who lived in such an area.
In the IGI for Norfolk the name Secker/Sacker crops up 923 times with earliest recorded instance being in 1543.
In the 1881 census for Norfolk the name occurs 296 times.

SKIPPER:

This well-known Norfolk name is in fact chiefly found in Norfolk and derives, as you might expect, from the occupational name for the master of a ship (skipper being a Middle English term but also similar to the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch schipper).
An alternative for the name is derived from basket makers as skippe or skeppe is a Middle English term for a basket or hamper (a skep was used to keep bees in). It still comes to us now as a large container in the form of a skip. From the meaning of skip as being jump the name is also supposed to derive from an acrobat or professional tumbler or someone with high spirits who was always skipping around.
In the IGI for Norfolk the name Skipper turns up 2031 times, the earliest one being in 1563.
In the 1881 census for Norfolk the name Skipper occurs 538 times.

SURNAME DIRECTORY: A B C D E F G H I J K N P R S T

Click the letter to see some examples of surnames, their meanings and distribution in Norfolk.