Anker Family History
Anker Name Meaning
German: from Middle High German anker ‘anchor’, applied either as an occupational name for a smith who made ships’ anchors or as a habitational name from a house identified by an anchor. English: from the Old French personal name Anchier (see Angier). Norwegian and Swedish: probably originally a Swedish soldier’s name meaning ‘anchor’. This is the name of a powerful and influential Norwegian family, who came to Christiana (Oslo) from Sweden in 1668. Danish: from a personal name, of which the first element means ‘eagle’ and the second (probably) ‘violent’. Americanized form of northern French Anquier, from a personal name of Germanic origin (see Angier).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press