Crossman
A surname usually understood as meaning “the cross man,” likely referring to someone associated with a cross or cross-shaped sign.
The #7,402 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 68,656 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken to come from Middle English cross plus man, forming a nickname or descriptive byname. The literal sense is “cross man,” which may have referred to a person living by a cross, working with crosses or crossroads, or someone identified by a cross-shaped mark or emblem. Some 19th-century writers also grouped it with surnames like Crouch and Cross, treating it as an English descriptive formation rather than a patronymic.
History
Historical records show the name in England by the 14th century in spellings such as Crocheman and Crosman. Later surname dictionaries and place-name studies note the name in several English counties, especially in the southwest. It remains a relatively uncommon English surname and is still found in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname indexes sometimes glossed Crossman alongside other “cross” surnames such as Crosby and Crosskill, showing how openly descriptive many medieval English surnames could be.
From the historical record
“crouch or cross, formed like Kirk- man and Bridgman ; v. Crossman, and cf. Crotch with Cross. Richard Crocheman,co.Camb.,i373. A. Cassandra Crocheman, ibid. William Crocheman, C. R., 16 Ric II.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)