Holman
Usually a surname for someone associated with holly, though some early writers also linked it to “whole man” or to Holyman.
The #1,069 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,416 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Holman has been explained in a few different ways in older surname books. One common interpretation treats it as a topographic name from Middle English holly, meaning someone who lived near holly bushes. Another tradition, noted by some early scholars, takes it as a shortened form of Holyman, or as a nickname from Middle English hole/whole, meaning “sound, unbroken, or respectable.”
History
Medieval records show several spellings, especially Holeman and Holyman, which helps explain why the name has been interpreted in more than one way. The surname is found in England and later spread more widely in the English-speaking world. Lower explicitly preferred the “whole man” explanation, while Bardsley leaned toward a local/topographic origin from holly; the evidence is not decisive.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower remarked that in medieval English, whole was often spelled without the w, which is one reason he thought Holman may originally have meant “whole man.”
From the historical record
“IIOLLYWELL. See Halliwell. HOLMAN. May be a contraction of Holyman ; but is more likely to be " n-liole man," a man of sterling mettle. It must be recollected that in medieval English ivJiole was spelt without the w, and the com- monest form of this name in the XIV. and XV. cent, is Holeman. HOLMER. A dM-eller by a…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom