Heckman Hickman Eckman vandenHeck and other variations on a theme

I suppose I should have taken German. I would have never pegged Heckman as a German name, but it turns out that the word "heck" or "hegge" means "hedge" and presumably referred to a family who lived near a hedge. Had I taken German, I would have known that. I would now also be able to interpret the census and other records of our Zogg ancestors. But, alas, I didn't take German.

PS - Why do I care about whether Heckman is a German name? Only because I'm stalking someone else's dead people.

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