Frequency: (318)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: from Middle English schak(k)en ‘to brandish’ + speer ‘spear’, nickname for a belligerent person or perhaps a bawdy nickname for an exhibitionist or womanizer.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
