Knickerbocker (surname)

Knickerbocker, also spelled Knikkerbakker, Knikkerbacker, and Knickerbacker, is a surname that dates back to the early settlers of New Netherland that was popularized by Washington Irving in 1809 when he published his satirical A History of New York under the pseudonym "Diedrich Knickerbocker". The name was also a term for Manhattan's aristocracy "in the early days" and became a general term, now obsolete, for a New Yorker. The term is also used to refer to the Anglo-Dutch "old line" families of New York City, as opposed to New England "Yankee" interlopers and other newcomers.

Notable people with the surname

 * Austin Knickerbocker (1918–1997), American professional baseball player
 * Brianna Knickerbocker (born 2001), American voice actress
 * Bill Knickerbocker (1911–1963), American professional baseball player
 * David Buel Knickerbacker (1833–1894), 3rd Protestant Episcopal bishop of the diocese of Indiana
 * Harmen Jansen Knickerbocker (c. 1650 – c. 1720), Dutch colonist in New Netherland (New York)
 * Herman Knickerbocker (1779–1855), United States Representative
 * Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker (1898–1949), American writer and journalist
 * I. B. Knickerbocker (1864–1954) American politician in the state of Washington
 * Jerry Knickerbocker (born 1943), American politician in the state of Minnesota
 * Charles Knickerbocker Harley (born 1943), academic economic historian

Pseudonymously

 * Cholly Knickerbocker, a pseudonym used by a series of society columnists writing for the New York American and the New York Journal-American
 * Diedrich Knickerbocker, a pseudonym of Washington Irving
 * Suzy Knickerbocker, a pseudonym for columnist Aileen Mehle