Hindman
An old surname usually explained as a name for a deer-keeper or farm servant, though some sources also treat it as a nickname-based form.
The #5,727 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,982 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is usually connected with Middle English hind, meaning a deer, and man, used in the sense of attendant or worker. In that reading, Hindman would mean a man in charge of deer, or more broadly someone employed as a servant or herdsman. Some older writers also suggested a nickname source from the adjective hind/hende, meaning courteous or gentle, so the origin is not entirely certain.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries place Hindman alongside other occupational names connected with animals and husbandry, especially deer-keeping. The name is found in English records by the medieval period and has persisted as a relatively uncommon surname. In modern use it is most familiar in English-speaking countries, especially the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books even compare Hindman with names like Hartman and Stagman, showing how often medieval animal-keeping occupations turned into surnames.
From the historical record
“HINDMAN. Analagous to Hartman, Iluckman, &c., in relation to the care of deer. It may, however, be a pleonasm for Hind, which see. HINDMARCH. See Hindmarsh. IIINDMARSH. Local : " The hinder or more remote marsh." HINDSON. The son of a hind or farm bailiff. See Hind.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom