Family name origins & meanings
- Americanized spelling of Dutch Quackenbosch, a topographic name from Dutch quaak ‘swamp’ (cognate with the English word quagmire) + bosch ‘woodland’, ‘wilderness’.
- Quackenbosch was the name of a prominent Dutch family in Beverwijck in New Netherland (Albany, NY) in the 17th century. The family was associated with the early brick-making industry in Fort Orange-Beverwijck. A house built by them in the early 1700s still stands; it is the oldest surviving house in Albany.