Becker
Becker (German pronunciation: [ˈbɛkɐ, -kər]) is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the [baːk]~[bɛk] root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany, it can also derive from the word Beck for Bach ("creek" or "brook") to denote origin.
Geographical distribution
[edit]As of 2014, 55.3% of all known bearers of the surname Becker were residents of Germany (frequency 1:287), 24.7% of the United States (1:2,891), 8.0% of Brazil (1:5,052), 2.7% of France (1:4,987), 2.0% of South Africa (1:5,431) and 1.2% of Canada (1:6,120).
In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than the national average (1:287) in the following states:[1]
- 1. Saarland (1:84)
- 2. Rhineland-Palatinate (1:123)
- 3. Hesse (1:159)
- 4. North Rhine-Westphalia (1:226)
- 5. Saxony-Anhalt (1:248)
People
[edit]Surname
[edit]- Alan Becker (born 1989), U.S. animator, YouTuber
- Alan S. Becker (1946–2020), American lawyer and politician
- Albert Becker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Albrecht Becker (1906–2002), German production designer, photographer, actor, imprisoned by the Nazis for homosexuality
- Alfred Becker, German engineer and military officer
- Alfred G. Becker, American politician
- Alice Becker-Ho (born 1941), French poet
- Alisson Becker (born 1992), Brazilian footballer
- Annika Becker (born 1981), German pole vaulter
- Armando Becker (born 1966), Venezuelan basketball player
- August Becker (1900–1967), German chemist
- August Becker (1821–1887), German painter
- August Becker (1828–1891), German author
- B. Jay Becker (1904–1987), U.S. bridge player
- Ben Becker (born 1964), German film and theatre actor
- Benjamin Becker (born 1981), German tennis player
- Bernard Becker (1920–2013), U.S. ophthalmologist
- Bertha Becker (1920–2013), Brazilian geographer
- Bill Becker (1916–2010), U.S. journalist, writer and world traveler
- Bo Becker (born 1971), Swedish economist
- Boris Becker (born 1967), German tennis player; youngest Wimbledon champion at age 17
- Britta Becker (born 1973), German field hockey player
- Carl Becker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Carl Lotus Becker (1873–1945), U.S. historian, author; President of American Historical Association in 1931
- Charles Becker (1870–1915), first U.S. police officer executed for murder
- Charlotte Becker (born 1983), German racing cyclist
- Christiane Luise Amalie Becker (1778–1797), German actress
- Christine Becker, U.S. women's saber team member
- Cole Becker (born 1995), lead singer of SWMRS
- Cornelius Becker, German theologian (see Becker Psalter)
- Cory Becker, U.S. guitar player (rock band: Living Things, St. Louis, MO)
- Craig Becker (born 1956), U.S. labor attorney and professor of law
- David Becker, U.S. guitarist
- Diane M. Becker (1943–2021), U.S. nurse and public health scientist
- Diego Becker (born 1997), Argentine professional footballer
- Dietrich Becker (1620–1670), German Baroque violinist and composer
- Dirk Becker (born 1966), German politician (SPD)
- Donna Becker (born 1932), All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ballplayer
- Douglas Becker, U.S./Belgian choreographer, teacher
- Edmund Becker (born 1957), German footballer
- Edward R. Becker (1933–2006), U.S. appeals court judge
- Elisabeth Becker (1923–1946), German SS concentration camp guard executed for war crimes, World War II
- Elizabeth Becker (born 1947), U.S. journalist and author
- Emma Becker (born 1988), French writer
- Ernest Becker (1924–1974), U.S. cultural anthropologist
- Esteban Becker (born 1964), Argentine football manager and former player
- Felicitas Becker, professor of African history
- Florence Hague Becker (1886–1971), 16th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution
- Franz Becker (1918–1965), German footballer
- Gary Becker (1930–2014), U.S. Nobel Prize-winning economist
- Gavin de Becker (born 1954), U.S. specialist: security
- George Ferdinand Becker (1847–1919), U.S. geologist
- Georges Becker (1846-1909), French painter
- Germán Becker (born 1980), Argentine tango musician
- Gustav Becker (1819–1885), German clockmaker and businessman
- Gustavo Adolfo Becker (born 1966), Spanish high jumper
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870), Spanish poet
- Hans-Josef Becker (born 1948), German Catholic archbishop of Paderborn
- Hartmut Becker (1938-2022), German actor
- Heidi Becker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Heinrich Becker (1770–1822), German actor
- Heinz Becker (1915–1991), German baseball player
- Hellmuth Becker (1902–1953), German Nazi Waffen-SS general executed for war crimes
- Helmut Becker (1927–1990), German viticulturist
- Herbert L. Becker (born 1956), U.S. magician and founder of IPTV
- Hermann Becker (1887–1970), German World War I fighter ace
- Hermann Heinrich Becker, German painter
- Howard P. Becker (1899–1960), U.S. sociologist
- Howard S. Becker (1928–2023), U.S. sociologist and musician
- Hugo Becker (1863–1941), German cellist, teacher and composer
- Hugo Becker, French actor from Metz
- Ingrid Becker (born 1942), German athlete
- Jacques Becker (1906–1960), French screenwriter and film director
- Jakob Becker (1810–1872), German genre painter
- Jazmín López Becker (born 1992), Argentine windsurfer
- Jean Becker (born 1938), French director, screenwriter, and actor
- Jean Becker (1833–1884), German violinist and composer
- Jens Becker (born 1965), German metal bass guitarist
- Jill Becker, American psychological researcher
- Julie Becker (1972–2016), American artist
- Jurek Becker (1937–1997), German writer
- Jürgen Becker (comedian) (born 1959), German cabaret artist
- Konrad Becker (born 1959), Austrian hypermedia researcher and interdisciplinary content developer
- Kuno Becker (born 1978), Mexican actor
- Kurt Becker (born 1958), U.S. football player
- Lawrence C. Becker (1939–2018), U.S. academic, philosopher
- Leonard F. Becker (1920–1991), American politician
- Ludwig Becker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Lydia Becker (1827–1890), British suffragist and amateur scientist
- Marc Becker, U.S. professor of Latin American studies
- Marcus Becker (born 1981), German slalom canoer
- Markus Becker (pianist) (born 1963), German pianist and academic teacher
- Margaret Becker (born 1959), U.S. award-winning composer, singer, speaker and writer
- Mariana Becker (born early 1970s), Brazilian sports journalist and television reporter
- Martin Becker (1916–2006), German Luftwaffe night fighter ace
- May Lamberton Becker (1873–1958), U.S. journalist and literary critic
- Max Becker (1888-1960), German politician
- Meret Becker (born 1969), German actress and singer
- Mike Becker (born 1943), U.S. bridge player
- Miriam Becker (1909–2000), American mathematician
- Moritz Becker (1827–?), U.S. Deputy Sheriff and Democratic politician (WI)
- Muriel Gustavo Becker (born 1987), Brazilian goalkeeper
- Murilo Becker (born 1983), Brazilian basketball player
- Nate Becker (born 1996), American football player
- Nicole Becker (born 2001), Argentine climate activist
- Nikolaus Becker (1809–1845), German lawyer and writer known for "Rheinlied"
- Oskar Becker (1839–1868), German student, shot King William I of Prussia
- Oskar Becker (1889–1964), German philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian of mathematics
- Otto Heinrich Enoch Becker (1828–1890), German ophthalmologist
- Pablo Becker (born 1993), Argentine retired footballer
- Paul Becker (born 1984), Canadian actor, director, choreographer and producer
- Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907), German expressionist painter
- Philip Becker (1830–1898), U.S. Republican politician
- Rafael Becker (born 1991), Brazilian Professional Golfer, PGA Tour player and winner of the Brazilian Open
- Ralf Becker (born 1970), German footballer, coach and administrator
- Ralph Elihu Becker (1907–1994), U.S. attorney and ambassador to Honduras 1976–1977
- Ralph Elihu Becker (born 1952), U.S. attorney and Republican politician; 34th Mayor of Salt Lake City, UT
- Richard S. Becker (1926-2015), United States Air Force flying ace
- Rich Becker (born 1972), U.S. baseball player
- Robert Becker, son of Russell, founder of Becker Film Group, an Australian film company
- Robert O. Becker (1923–2008), U.S. orthopedic surgeon and electrophysiology researcher
- Roger Becker (1934–2017), British tennis player
- Rudolf Becker (1923–1944), German highly decorated Hauptmann in World War II; recipient of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Rudolph Zacharias Becker (1752–1822), German educator and author
- Russell Becker, founder of the Becker Group, Australian independent film and television distribution company
- Ruth Becker (1899–1990), U.S. schoolteacher (Kansas) and Titanic survivor
- Sally Becker, British volunteer in Bosnia and Kosovo
- Samuel William Becker, U.S. dermatologist who documented Becker's nevus
- Sandra Becker (born 1967), German artist
- Sandra Lynne Becker (1947–2015), U.S. beauty queen; Miss California 1965
- Sandro Becker (born 1971), Brazilian football player
- Sandy Becker (1922–1996), U.S. television announcer, actor and comedian
- Sean Becker (born 1975), New Zealand curler
- Sherburn M. Becker (1876–1949), U.S. Republican politician (41st Mayor of Milwaukee, WI); elected at age 29 and known as the boy mayor
- Simon Fisher-Becker (born 1961), British actor
- Sheraldo Becker (born 1995), Surinamese footballer
- Theodor Becker (1840–1928), German civil engineer and entomologist
- Thorsten Becker (born 1980), German footballer
- Thomas Becker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Valentin Eduard Becker (1814–1890), German composer
- Vaneta Becker, U.S. Republican politician
- Walt Becker (born 1968), U.S. director, writer, and actor
- Walter Becker (1950–2017), U.S. musician, songwriter and record producer
- Wayland Becker (1910–1984), U.S. football player
- Wilhelm Adolf Becker (1796–1846), German archaeologist
- Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker (1753–1813), German archaeologist and author
- William D. Becker (1876–1943), U.S. attorney and Republican politician (43rd mayor of St. Louis, Missouri); died in the crash of Waco CG-4 glider's first public demonstration
- William W. Becker, American hotelier, co-founder of Motel 6
- Wiren Becker, American electrical engineer
- Wolfgang Becker (1910–2005), German film director and film editor
- Wolfgang Becker (born 1954), German film director and screenwriter
Middle name
[edit]- Herman Becker Fast (1887–1938), American businessman, farmer, and politician
- Sara Becker da Silva (2005-...), Brazilian theologian
See also
[edit]- Beckers, surname