Brownstoner takes on Brooklyn history in Nabe Names, a series of briefs on the origins and surprising stories of neighborhood nomenclature

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Dyker Heights’ 13th Avenue in 1934. Photo via Bowery Boys

An isolated residential nabe, Dyker Heights is known for its large Italian-American population and distance from subway stations.

Despite much of the ‘hood’s relative inaccessibility, Dyker Heights still attracts an outpouring of locals and out-of-towners alike to its renowned Christmas lights display, an annual tradition in which residents deck their mansions in illuminated Santas and snowflakes.

But can you guess how it got its name?

Like many things in Brooklyn it is thought to originate with the Dutch — but not the language. Instead, it is named for Dutch farmers’ use of dikes to drain local wetlands.

Another theory of Dyker Heights’ history is that the origins are based on something more recent, as the area was known as Bay Ridge East in real estate auctions up until the 1920s. What that more recent inspiration may be, however, has been lost to the ages.

Dyker Heights Brooklyn Neighborhood Name
1922 ad from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn Christmas Lights Photos Bedecked Brownstones
Lights in Dyker Heights. Photo by Laura Leebove
Brooklyn Christmas Lights Photos Bedecked Brownstones
Lights in Dyker Heights. Photo by Laura Leebove

Related Stories
Dyker Heights’ Asian-American Influx
The Best of the Dyker Heights Lights
Schubert’s Dyker Heights Symphony

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What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Actually, the origin of the name “Dyker Heights” is easy to pinpoint. Developer Walter L. Johnson named the neighborhood in October of 1895 after the Dyker Meadows. The bluff of land on which he built had a commanding view of the Dyker Meadows and Dyker Beach – not to mention the entire NY harbor. The real question is why “Dyker Meadows/Beach/Basin?” etc… that answer may be lost to history but it is either in reference to a Van Dyke family who may or may not have built dykes to drain the meadows – which went as far north at 14th Avenue and 84th Street. For more information, please check out my YouTube documentary I made with Angelo Bonsignore. https://youtu.be/LWey-zOh6lk