Brockman
Likely an English surname meaning either “badger-man” or “horseman,” depending on which old sense of brock is intended.
The #3,223 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,557 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as coming from Middle English brock, a word that could mean either a badger or, in some dialects, an inferior draught horse, plus man. That makes Brockman either an occupational nickname for a badger-hunter or, less certainly, a horseman or groom. The form appears early in Kent and Suffolk records, and older writers disagreed about which sense of brock is the right one.
History
Lower notes an early Kentish family recorded as Brokeman in the 14th century, and he treats the name as probably English rather than foreign. Later surname writers repeat the same debate: some prefer “horseman,” while others argue that the badger sense is more likely by analogy with related names like Brock, Brook, and Brookman. The surname is now established in England and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname scholars were genuinely split on whether Brockman meant “horseman” or “badger-hunter,” and both ideas stayed in print for decades.
From the historical record
“Suffolk, and Kent. BROCKMAN. The Kent family occur as Brokeman, in the XIV. cent. It may be sjTionjTnous with Brookman and Brook er ; Init hroch is 0. Eng. both for a draught horse and a badger, and the primi- tive Brockman may have been either a horseman, as Kennett suggests, or a hunter of badgers. See Eng. Surn.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom