Aleman
A surname that usually means “a German” or “someone from Germany,” though in some early English records it was also linked to an alehouse keeper or ale seller.
The #1,571 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,466 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is most often explained as a form of Old French and Middle English Alemain/Aleman, meaning “German” or “man from Germany,” ultimately from the Latin name for the Alemanni, a Germanic people. Some English surname writers also connected it with the medieval English word for a seller of ale or an innkeeper, but the ethnic sense is the stronger and more widely accepted explanation for the family name. The spelling varies because medieval scribes wrote the name in several Latinized and vernacular forms, such as Aleman, Alcmannus, and de Alemania.
History
In medieval English records the name appears in forms such as John le Aleman and William Alcmannus, showing how readily it could function as a descriptive byname for a foreigner or German. The surname also survives in Spanish and French areas, where Alemán/Aleman likewise points to German origin or association. Later English surname dictionaries sometimes discussed it alongside similar-looking names, which has led to some confusion with unrelated forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same medieval root behind Aleman also lies behind historical words for the Alemanni, the confederation of Germanic tribes whose name spread widely through European languages.
From the historical record
“an innkeeper. ALEMAN. 1. SeeAlman. 2. A dealer in ale. ALESBURY. Aylesbury, co. Bucking- ham. ALL ALEX. A nickname of Alexander ; or perhaps Allic or Alick, a Domesd. name.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom