Garman
An old surname with several likely roots, most often explained as meaning “spear-man” or as a form of an ancient Germanic personal name.
The #4,498 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,161 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname has been explained in more than one way in older surname dictionaries. One line of interpretation takes it from Old English gar, meaning “spear,” plus mann, “man,” giving the sense “spearman.” Another connects it with the old Germanic personal name Garmund or Geirmundr, where the first element relates to “spear” and the second to “protection” or “security.”
History
Nineteenth-century writers grouped Garman with several similar surnames such as German, Jarman, and Gorman, treating them as related forms of ancient Germanic personal names. The spelling has been influenced by regional variation and by later Anglicization, so the exact origin may differ by family line. In some cases the name may also be a corruption of an older personal name rather than a direct occupational or descriptive surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older sources sometimes treated Garman and Warman as related or even interchangeable spellings in early English records.
From the historical record
“jilace. GARMAN. A-Sax. gar, a spear, and mnn. A spearman. GAR^IENT. A corruption of the A- Sax. personal name Garmund. Cod. Dipl. 978. GARNAULT. A French Protestant family, who settled in England at the Re- vocation of the Edict of Nantes.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom