Meaning:
Its source is bekkr, an Old Norse name meaning "Stream."
Narrative:
This surname could have been derived from an Old English term describing a type of axe, in which case it would have been taken by makers of such tools.
Its use among German Jews as a surname probably derives from a Yiddish term meaning ''baker,'' or from the Hebrew formulation ben-kedoshim, meaning ''the descendant of martyrs.''