Crocker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who makes or sells earthenware pots and crockery ; a family name borne by people of various origins
2. One who manufactures or trades in earthenware vessels ; a surname held by many people in English-speaking countries
3. A craftsman or dealer in coarse pottery and jars ; a common family name, especially in the United States and Britain

Etymology: Crocker is a plain English occupational name: a maker or seller of crocks, the large coarse earthenware pots and jars used for storing food and liquids. The word was first recorded in Middle English in 1315, when the trade was already old enough to have given its name to the people who practised it. Its ending is the familiar agent suffix "-er", so a crocker is literally one who works with crocks, much like a baker works with bread. The name was then carried into surnames, as many trade words were, and it became a family name especially common in the United States and Britain. Many people who bear it today have no connection to pottery at all, and the surname has simply been passed down through families for centuries.