Herman (name)

HermanPronunciation| /ˈhɜːrmən/

|

Gender| Male
Origin
Word/name| Germanic languages
Meaning| army's man
Region of origin| Northern Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe
Other names
Related names| Hermann, Armand, Armando, Ermanno, Harmon, Armin
Popularity| see popular names

Look up Herman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Herman is a masculine given name, from an ancient Germanic name consisting of the elements harja- "army" and mann- "man". Hermine is the feminine form of Herman.[1] It is first recorded in the 8th century, in the forms Hariman, Heriman, Hairman, Herman.[2]

It regained popularity in the English-speaking world in the 19th century, particularly in the United States amongst German Americans.[3]

Herman remains widely used in Dutch and Scandinavian languages. Variant forms include German Hermann; French Armand; Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Armando; Italian Ermanno.[3]

Herman has also been in use as a German surname since the 16th century.[citation needed]

The name of Arminius, the 1st-century leader of the Cherusci, became identified with the name Hermann in German historiography in the early modern period; thus, Arminius is traditionally known as Hermann der Cheruskerfürst in German. The name of Arminius is in fact from a stem ermen- "strong". The conflation of this element with the name Herman may indeed date to the medieval period, via variant forms such as Ermin, Ermen, Erman, Ermanno, feminine Ermina, Ermana, Hirmina, Hermena.[4]

## Middle Ages

[edit]

* Herman I (archbishop of Cologne) (d. 924)
* Herman I, Duke of Swabia (d. 949)
* Hermann Billung Duke of Saxony (d. 973)
* Herman II, Duke of Swabia (d. 1003)
* Herman III, Duke of Swabia (d. 1012)
* Herman IV, Duke of Swabia (d. 1038)
* Herman II (archbishop of Cologne) (d. 1056)
* Hermann of Reichenau (1013–1064)
* Herman (bishop of Salisbury), bishop of Ramsbury, Sherborne and Salisbury (d. 1078)
* Hermann of Salm (d. 1088)
* Herman the Archdeacon, hagiographer, d. 1090s
* Herman II, Margrave of Baden (d. 1130)
* Herman van Horne (d. 1156), bishop of Utrecht
* Herman of Carinthia (ca. 1100–ca. 1160), Benedictine scholar
* Herman Joseph of Cologne (1150–1243)
* Hermannus Alemannus, Herman the German, 13th-century translator
* Hermann von Münster (d. 1392), master glassmaker
* Hermann II, Count of Celje (1365–1435)
* Herman of Valaam, saint of the Russian Orthodox Church and founder of the Valaam Monastery in Karelia (date unknown, 10th to 15th centuries)

## Early Modern

[edit]

* Hermann of Wied, archbishop of Cologne (1477–1552)
* Herman de Lynden (1547–1603), Belgian military commander in the Eighty Years' War
* Catharina Herman (died after 1604), Dutch war heroine
* Jobst Herman, Count of Lippe (1625–1678), German noble
* Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738), Dutch botanist
* Herman of Alaska (1756–1837), Russian missionary to Alaska

## Modern

[edit]

The name Herman was popular in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, consistently ranking between 55 and 44 throughout the 1880-1914 period. Beginning with World War I, the name's popularity entered a steady decline for the remainder of the twentieth century, falling below rank 1,000 in the year 2000.[5]

* Herman (Aav), (1878–1961), head of the Orthodox Church of Finland
* Herman (Swaiko) (1932–2022), head of the Orthodox Church in America
* Herman Abban (born 1994), Ghanaian tennis player
* Hermán Aceros (1938–2018), Colombian footballer
* Herman M. Albert (1901–1947), American lawyer and politician
* Herman D. Aldrich (1801–1880), American businessman
* Herman Barron (1909–1978), American professional golfer
* Herman Berendsen (1934–2019), Dutch chemist
* Herman Berlinski (1910–2001), German-born American composer and conductor
* Herman Bouma (born 1934), Dutch vision researcher and gerontechnologist
* Herman Cain (1945–2020), American businessman, talk show host, and candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination
* Herman Carroll Sr (born 1952) American fugitive
* Herman Dreer (1888–1981), American academic administrator, educational reformer and activist, author, editor, minister, and civil rights leader
* Herman Edwards (born 1954), known as Herm Edwards, American football player and coach
* Herman Becker Fast (1887-1938), American businessman, farmer, politician
* Herman Fishman (1917–1967), American basketball player and baseball player
* Herman Goldstein (1939–2020), American criminologist
* Herman Goldstine (1913–2004), American mathematician and computer scientist
* Herman W. Hellman (1843–1906), German-born American Jewish businessman
* Herman Johannes (1912–1992), Indonesian professor, scientist and politician
* Herman José (born 1954), Portuguese showman, singer and comedian
* Herman Leenders (born 1960), Flemish writer and poet
* Herman Li (李康敏 Lǐ Kāng Mǐn, born 1976), Chinese musician
* Herman Lieberman (1870–1941), Polish lawyer and politician
* Herman Long (disambiguation), multiple people
* Herman J. Mankiewicz (1897–1953), American screenwriter
* Herman Keh (郭坤耀, born 1996), Singaporean actor and model
* Herman Francis Mark (1895–1992), Austrian-American chemist
* Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist
* Herman A. Metz (1867–1934), German-born -American U.S. Representative from New York and New York City Comptroller and businessman
* Herman Miller (Wisconsin politician) (1833–1922), American politician
* Herman Miller (writer) (1919–1999), American screenwriter and film producer
* Herman Redemeijer (1930–2020), Dutch politician
* Herman Salmon (1913–1980), American barnstormer, air racer, and test pilot
* Herman Leonard de Silva (1928–2009), Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations
* Herman Slater (1938–1992), an American Wiccan high priest
* Herman Smetanin (born 1992), Ukrainian defense industry management executive
* Herman Stump (1837–1917), American politician
* Herman Suselbeek (born 1943), Dutch rower
* Herman Terrado (born 1989), Guam-born American mixed martial artist
* Herman van Bekkum (1932–2020), Dutch chemist
* Herman Van der Wee (born 1928), Belgian economic historian
* Herman van Praag (born 1929), Dutch psychiatrist
* Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk (born 1948), Brazilian chess player
* Herman Van Rompuy (born 1947), Belgian politician, first President of the European Council
* Herman Van Springel (1943–2022), Belgian cyclist
* Herman van Veen (born 1945), Dutch stage performer, actor, musician, singer/songwriter and author
* Herman Vedel (1875–1948), Danish painter
* Herman Wirth (1885–1981), Dutch-German lay historian and scholar
* Herman Wouk (1915–2019), American author
* Herman Zetterberg (1904–1963), Swedish jurist and politician

Stage name

* Peter Noone (born 1947), English singer-songwriter and actor, stage name Herman as leader of the pop group Herman's Hermits

## Fictional characters

[edit]

* Herman, a bug in the Disney segment Mickey and the Beanstalk
* Herman Hermann, a one-armed character from the American television sitcom The Simpsons
* Hermine, a character from the novel Steppenwolf
* Herman Munster, from American television sitcom The Munsters
* Herman Melleville, a monster from Doug's 1st Movie
* Herman I Vermin, a character created by American cartoonist Marc Hempel
* Herman Castillo, from Violetta
* Herman Toothrot, from LucasArts' Monkey Island
* Herman Brooks, the titular character of the American television sitcom Herman's Head
* Herman the mouse, created by American animation studio Famous Studios (a.k.a. Paramount Cartoon Studios)
* Herman Schultz aka Shocker, from Marvel Comics
* Herman Carter/The Doctor, from the horror game Dead by Daylight

## As a surname

[edit]

Variants include Herrmann, Herrman, Herman, Hermann, Hermanns

### Disambiguation lists

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* Edward Herman (disambiguation)
* Robert Herman (disambiguation)
* Tom Herman (disambiguation)

### Early modern

[edit]

* Augustine Herman (1621–1686), Bohemian explorer of North America
* Jakob Hermann (1678–1733), Swiss mathematician
* Nikolaus Herman (c.1500–1561), German cantor and hymn writer

### Modern

[edit]

* Alexis Herman (1947–2025), American political figure
* Arthur L. Herman (born 1956), American historian
* Babe Herman (1903–1987), Major League Baseball right fielder
* Billy Herman (1909–1992), Major League Baseball second baseman
* Cila Herman, Yugoslav-American thermal engineer
* David Herman (born 1967), American actor
* Faithe Herman, American actress
* Hanna Herman (born 1959), Ukrainian state and political activist
* Henry Herman, pen name of Henry Heydrac D'Arco (1832–1894), English dramatist and novelist
* Jerry Herman (1931–2019), American composer
* Josef Herman (1911–2000), Polish-British painter
* Josephine Herman, Cook Islander physician
* Louis Herman (1930–2016), American marine biologist
* M. Justin Herman (1909–1971), American public administrator; Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency
* Oskar Herman (1886–1974), Croatian painter
* Ottó Herman (1835–1914), Hungarian zoologist, ethnographer, archaeologist, and politician
* Robin Herman (1951-2022), American sports journalist
* Róża Herman (1902–1995), Polish chess master
* Vilim Herman (born 1949), Croatian university professor, politician and former representative in the Croatian Parliament
* Woody Herman (1913–1987), American jazz clarinetist and big band leader
* Yaron Herman (born 1981), Israeli jazz pianist

### Fictional characters

[edit]

* Pee-wee Herman, played by Paul Reubens
* Gunther Hermann, from the computer game Deus Ex

## See also

[edit]

* Herman (disambiguation)
* Hermann (name)
* Herm (given name)
* Hermans
* Harman (surname)
* Arman (name)
* Armand (name)
* Armin (name)
* Germain (disambiguation)
* Germán
* German (name)
* Germanus (disambiguation)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Hermine". Behind the Name.
2. ^ E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856: p. 627).
3. ^ a b Katie Martin-Doyle, The Treasury of Baby Names, Worth Press, Cambridge 2005. ISBN 978-1903025116
4. ^ E. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856:792f.)
5. ^ "Popularity for the name Herman - Behind the Name".

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