Herman (name)

Herman
Pronunciation/ˈhɜːrmən/
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameGermanic languages
Meaningarmy's man
Region of originNorthern Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe
Other names
Related namesHermann, Armand, Armando, Ermanno, Harmon, Armin
Popularitysee popular names
Look up Herman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Herman is a masculine given name, from an ancient Germanic name consisting of the elements harja- "army" and mann- "man". Hermine is the feminine form of Herman.[1] It is first recorded in the 8th century, in the forms Hariman, Heriman, Hairman, Herman.[2]

It regained popularity in the English-speaking world in the 19th century, particularly in the United States amongst German Americans.[3]

Herman remains widely used in Dutch and Scandinavian languages. Variant forms include German Hermann; French Armand; Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Armando; Italian Ermanno.[3]

Herman has also been in use as a German surname since the 16th century.[citation needed]

The name of Arminius, the 1st-century leader of the Cherusci, became identified with the name Hermann in German historiography in the early modern period; thus, Arminius is traditionally known as Hermann der Cheruskerfürst in German. The name of Arminius is in fact from a stem ermen- "strong". The conflation of this element with the name Herman may indeed date to the medieval period, via variant forms such as Ermin, Ermen, Erman, Ermanno, feminine Ermina, Ermana, Hirmina, Hermena.[4]

Middle Ages

Early Modern

Modern

The name Herman was popular in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, consistently ranking between 55 and 44 throughout the 1880–1914 period. Beginning with World War I, the name's popularity entered a steady decline for the remainder of the twentieth century, falling below rank 1,000 in the year 2000.[5]

  • Herman (Aav), (1878–1961), head of the Orthodox Church of Finland
  • Herman (Swaiko) (1932–2022), former head of the Orthodox Church in America
  • Herman M. Albert (1901–1947), American lawyer and politician
  • Herman D. Aldrich (1801–1880), American businessman
  • Herman Barron (1909–1978), American professional golfer
  • Herman Berendsen (1934–2019), Dutch chemist
  • Herman Berlinski (1910–2001), German-born American composer and conductor
  • Herman Bouma (born 1934), Dutch vision researcher and gerontechnologist
  • Herman Cain (1945–2020), American businessman, talk show host, and candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination
  • Herman Carroll Sr (born 1952) American fugitive
  • Herman Dreer (1888–1981), American academic administrator, educational reformer and activist, author, editor, minister, and civil rights leader
  • Herman Edwards (born 1954), known as Herm Edwards, American football player and coach
  • Herman Becker Fast (1887-1938), American businessman, farmer, politician
  • Herman Goldstein (1939–2020), American criminologist
  • Herman Goldstine (1913–2004), American mathematician and computer scientist
  • Herman W. Hellman (1843–1906), German-born American Jewish businessman
  • Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter
  • Herman Johannes (1912–1992), Indonesian professor, scientist and politician
  • Herman José (born 1954), Portuguese showman, singer and comedian
  • Herman Leenders (born 1960), Flemish writer and poet
  • Herman Li (李康敏 Lǐ Kāng Mǐn, born 1976), Chinese musician
  • Herman Lieberman (1870–1941), Polish lawyer and politician
  • Herman Long (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Herman J. Mankiewicz (1897–1953), American screenwriter
  • Herman Keh (郭坤耀, born 1996), Singaporean actor and model
  • Herman Francis Mark (1895–1992), Austrian-American chemist
  • Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist
  • Herman A. Metz (1867–1934), German-born -American U.S. Representative from New York and New York City Comptroller and businessman
  • Herman Miller (Wisconsin politician) (1833–1922), American politician
  • Herman Miller (writer) (1919–1999), American screenwriter and film producer
  • Herman Redemeijer (1930–2020), Dutch politician
  • Herman Salmon (1913–1980), American barnstormer, air racer, and test pilot
  • Herman Leonard de Silva (1928–2009), Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations
  • Herman Slater (1938–1992), an American Wiccan high priest
  • Herman Stump (1837–1917), American politician
  • Herman Suselbeek (born 1943), Dutch rower
  • Herman Terrado (born 1989), Guam-born American mixed martial artist
  • Herman van Bekkum (1932–2020), Dutch chemist
  • Herman Van der Wee (born 1928), Belgian economic historian
  • Herman van Praag (born 1929), Dutch psychiatrist
  • Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk (born 1948), Brazilian chess player
  • Herman Van Rompuy (born 1947), Belgian politician, first President of the European Council
  • Herman Van Springel (1943–2022), Belgian cyclist
  • Herman van Veen (born 1945), Dutch stage performer, actor, musician, singer/songwriter and author
  • Herman Vedel (1875–1948), Danish painter
  • Herman Wirth (1885–1981), Dutch-German lay historian and scholar
  • Herman Wouk (1915–2019), American author
  • Herman Zetterberg (1904–1963), Swedish jurist and politician
Stage name
  • Peter Noone (born 1947), English singer-songwriter and actor, stage name Herman as leader of the pop group Herman's Hermits

Fictional characters

  • Herman, a bug in the Disney segment Mickey and the Beanstalk
  • Herman Hermann, a one-armed character from the American television sitcom The Simpsons
  • Hermine, a character from the novel Steppenwolf
  • Herman Munster, from American television sitcom The Munsters
  • Herman Melleville, a monster from Doug's 1st Movie
  • Herman I Vermin, a character created by American cartoonist Marc Hempel
  • Herman Toothrot, from LucasArts' Monkey Island
  • Herman Brooks, the titular character of the American television sitcom Herman's Head
  • Herman the mouse, created by American animation studio Famous Studios (a.k.a. Paramount Cartoon Studios)
  • Herman Schultz aka Shocker, from Marvel Comics
  • Herman Carter/The Doctor, from the horror game Dead by Daylight

As a surname

Variants include Herrmann, Herrman, Herman, Hermann, Hermanns

Disambiguation lists

  • Edward Herman (disambiguation)
  • Robert Herman (disambiguation)
  • Tom Herman (disambiguation)

Early modern

Modern

Fictional characters

  • Pee-wee Herman, played by Paul Reubens
  • Gunther Hermann, from the computer game Deus Ex

See also

  • Herman (disambiguation)
  • Hermann (name)
  • Herm (given name)
  • Hermans
  • Harman (surname)
  • Arman (name)
  • Armand (name)
  • Armin (name)
  • Germain (disambiguation)
  • Germán
  • German (name)
  • Germanus (disambiguation)

References

  1. ^ "Hermine". Behind the Name.
  2. ^ E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856: p. 627).
  3. ^ a b Katie Martin-Doyle, The Treasury of Baby Names, Worth Press, Cambridge 2005. ISBN 978-1903025116
  4. ^ E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856:792f.)
  5. ^ "Popularity for the name Herman - Behind the Name".
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