Norman (name)


Norman is both a surname and a given name. The surname has multiple origins including English, Irish, Scottish, German, Norwegian, Ashkenazi Jewish and Jewish American. The given name Norman is mostly of English origin, though in some cases it can be an Anglicised form of a Scottish Gaelic personal name.

Etymology

Surname

There are several different origins of the surname Norman.
  1. As a surname of English, Irish, Scottish and Dutch origin the name was used to denote someone of Scandinavian ancestry or someone from Normandy. During the Middle Ages Scandinavian Vikings called themselves norðmenn, which remains the Norwegian term for "Norwegian." By 1066 Scandinavian settlers in England had been absorbed and Northman and Norman were used as bynames and later as personal names by both English and English of Scandinavian descent. After the Norman Invasion of England in 1066, the name Norman took on a new meaning as England was invaded by Normans from Normandy. The Normans were themselves descendants of Scandinavians who had established a state in Normandy; thus the term has the same meaning whether it refers to descendants of first wave Scandinavian settlers of the British isles or Normans from Normandy.
  2. As a surname of French origin the name is a regional name denoting someone from Normandy.
  3. As a surname of Dutch origin the surname is an ethnic name for someone of Norwegian descent.
  4. As a surname of Jewish origin the surname is a variant of Nordman.
  5. As a surname of Jewish origin the surname is an Americanization of a similar-sounding Ashkenazic name. In at least one case Norman is used as an Americanization of Novominsky, which is a name of a family originating in Uman, Ukraine. This family on coming to the United States of America changed their name to Norman, and relatives in Russia likewise changed their names from Novominsky to Norman.
  6. As a surname of Swedish origin the name is derived the two elements: norr + man.

    Given name

Norman as a given name is of mostly English origin. It is a Germanic name and is composed of the elements nord + man. The name can be found in England before the Norman Invasion of 1066, but gained popularity by its use by Norman settlers in England after the invasion. In Norway, the demonym of its people in Norwegian are Nordmann, and has the exactly same meaning as the name origin of the Normans. In the Scottish Highlands, Norman is sometimes used as an Anglicised form of the Norwegian and Scottish Gaelic Tormod. A pet form of the Scottish given name is Norrie. There are several Scottish feminine forms of the given name Norman. These include: Normanna, Normina, Norma, Nora, and Mona.
In England, the use of Norman as a given name is dying out. For example, in 2005 only two newborn boys were given the name; one in Shropshire and another in Tyne and Wear.

Distribution

England, Wales and the Isle of Man

Norman is ranked as the 273rd most common surname in the 1999–2001 National Health Service Central Register of England, Wales and the Isle of Man.

Ireland

The surname Norman is of English origin, having arrived in the province of Ulster in the 17th century during the plantation era. The surname is most common in Dublin, Belfast and Cork. Below is a table of Norman households recorded in the Primary Valuation property survey of 1848–64.

United States of America

Surname