Becker

For other uses, see Becker (disambiguation).

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

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 national average (1:287) in the following states:

• 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

• Alan Becker (born 1989), U.S. animator, YouTuber
• Alan S. Becker (1946-2020), American lawyer and politician
• Albrecht Becker (1906–2002), German production designer, photographer, actor, imprisoned by Nazis for homosexuality
• Alice Becker-Ho (born 1941), French poet
• Alisson Becker (born 1992), Brazilian football goalkeeper; usually referred to solely by his given name
• 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)
• Carl Lotus Becker (1873-1945), U.S. historian, author; President of American Historical Association in 1931
• Chad Becker (born 1987), U.S. soccer player
• Charles Becker (1870–1915), first U.S. police officer executed for murder
• Charlotte Becker (born 1983), German professional 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
• 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 Roy 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 1969), U.S. journalist and author
• Ernest Becker (1924–1974), U.S. cultural anthropologist
• Franz Becker (born 1918), 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
• Germán Becker (born 1980), Argentinian tango musician
• Gustav Becker (1819-1885), German world-class clockmaker and businessman; won gold medal at Silesia Clock Fair 1852
• Gustavo Adolfo Becker (born 1966), Spanish high jumper
• Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870), Spanish poet
• Hans-Josef Becker (born 1948), German, Appointed Catholic archbishop of Paderborn, Germany 2003
• Heidi Becker (born 1940), Austrian-born model
• 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
• Howard P. Becker (1899–1960), U.S. sociologist
• Howard S. Becker (born 1928), 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
• 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
• Julie Becker (1972–2016), American artist
• Jurek Becker (1937–1997), German writer
• Jürgen Becker (born 1959), German kabarett artist
• Konrad Becker, (born 1959), Austrian hypermedia researcher and interdisciplinary content developer
• Kuno Becker (born 1978), Mexican actor
• Kurt Becker (born 1958), U.S. professional football player
• Lawrence C. Becker (born 1939), 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
• Margaret Becker (born 1959), U.S. award-winning composer, singer, speaker and writer
• Martin Becker (1916–2006), German Luftwaffe night fighter ace
• May Lamberton Becker (1873–1958), U.S. journalist and literary critic
• Meret Becker (born 1969), German actress and singer
• Mike Becker (born 1943), U.S. bridge player
• 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
• Nikolaus Becker (1809–1845), writer of the German “Rheinlied”
• Oskar Becker (1839–1868), German student; shot King William I of Prussia at 3 paces (2 shots - king wounded with 1 shot)
• Oskar Becker (1889–1964), German philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian of mathematics
• Otto Heinrich Enoch Becker (1828–1890), German ophthalmologist
• 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
• Rich Becker (born 1972), U.S. baseball player
• Robert O. Becker (1923–2008), U.S. orthopedic surgeon and electrophysiology researcher
• Roger Becker (born 1934), 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
• 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, German artist, born 1967
• Sandra Lynne Becker (born 1947), U.S. beauty queen; Miss California 1965
• 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 - known as the boy mayor
• Simon Fisher-Becker (born 1961), British actor
• Theodor Becker (1840–1928), German civil engineer and entomologist
• Thorsten Becker (born 1980), German footballer
• Thomas Becker (disambiguation)
• Valentin Eduard Becker (1814–1890), German composer
• Vaneta Becker, U.S. Republican politician (Indiana)
• 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 crash of Waco CG-4 glider's first public demonstration
• William W. Becker, American hotelier, co-founder of Motel 6
• Wolfgang Becker (born 1954), German filmmaker