Booker is an English occupational surname that means "maker of books" or "scribe", from the Old English boc, book. As a first name it is tied above all to Booker T. Washington, the educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute, and later to soul musician Booker T. Jones. In the United States Booker has risen from number 4226 in 2000 to number 1160 in 2025, its highest rank to date.