Denman
An English surname most likely meaning “dweller in a valley or den,” though some 19th-century writers also linked it to an old byname for a swineherd.
The #5,660 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,342 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Denman is generally explained as a habitation name from Middle English dene/den, meaning a valley or hollow, plus man, “person” or “dweller.” On that reading, it would originally describe someone who lived in or near a dene. Some older writers also suggested a more occupational sense, connecting it with a swineherd, but that explanation is less secure and seems to be a secondary guess rather than the main derivation.
History
The surname is recorded in medieval English sources, including forms such as de Dene and Denman in 14th-century Yorkshire. It appears in English parish and tax records from at least the late Middle Ages and remained established as a family name in later centuries. The name is found especially in England and later spread to other English-speaking countries.
Origin
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Fun fact
A few 19th-century surname books disagreed over whether Denman referred to a valley-dweller or to a swineherd, which makes it a nice example of how old surname etymologies can compete with one another.
From the historical record
“Denis. See, however, Dennistoun. DENMAN. See the termination, den and 31AN. The form in H.R. is Ate Dene. A dweller in a dene or ' den' would be called a Denman or a Denyer. The writer of the article on Surnames in Ediub. Rev. April, 1855, thinks the original Denman ■was a swineherd. DENMARK. From the country.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom