Gillman
A surname with more than one possible source, most likely from a personal name such as Gillemin/Gilmyn or from place-name forms like Gillingham.
The #7,663 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,238 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical sources do not agree on a single origin. Some 19th-century writers treat Gillman as an imitative or altered form of medieval personal names such as Gillemin or Gilmyn, while others connect it with place-name forms like Gillingham. One older theory also linked it to an Old Germanic personal-name element meaning "man," but that is less direct as an explanation for the modern surname. Overall, Gillman is best understood as an English surname with uncertain, probably multiple or overlapping medieval origins.
History
The name is recorded in several English counties in historical surname studies, and later appears in Ireland as well, where one family tradition claimed descent from a Crusader. Victorian surname scholars debated whether it belonged with personal-name forms or with local place-name surnames, and the balance of evidence in the excerpts leans toward an English medieval surname with unstable spelling. Because the forms Gillman and Gilman also overlap in historical records, some families with the name may not share the same root.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One Victorian source noted an Irish Gillman family tradition that their arms commemorated a Crusader who cut off a Saracen's right leg.
From the historical record
“set, Kent, and Norfollc. GILLMAN. Probably derived from Gill, in its topographical meaning, like Mihnan from Mill, and Hillman from Hill. The Irish family (originally from England in IG'JO) have a tradition of their descent from a Crusader who cut off the right leg of a Saracen — an event supposed to he com-…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom