Picker Family History

English: occupational name for someone who used a pick, from Middle English pi(c)k ‘pick’ (see Pick) + the agent suffix -er. English: occupational name for someone who caught or sold pike, from Middle English pike ‘pike’ + the agent suffix -er. English: topographic name for someone who lived on a pointed hill (see Pike 1), the -er suffix denoting an inhabitant. German: occupational name for someone who used a pick or pickaxe, from an agent derivative of Middle High German bicken ‘to prick or stab’. Dutch: occupational name for a stonemason or for a reaper or mower, from Middle Dutch picker, pecker. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): nickname for a big eater or a glutton, from Yiddish pikn ‘to eat’ with the noun suffix -er.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press