Grossman
A surname that most likely began as a residence name for someone living by a cross or roadside cross.
The #2,067 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,659 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In the English surname tradition, Grossman is usually explained as a habitational or topographic name from residence near a cross, especially a roadside cross or wayside crucifix. The element behind it is Middle English/Old English 'cross' in a surname formation, with 'man' functioning as a common surname ending in English names like Bridgman or Brookman. Some 19th-century writers also compared it with German-looking forms, but the English explanation is the one most clearly stated in the cited sources.
History
19th-century surname writers treated Grossman as a variant-type name alongside Cross, Crouch, Grosser, and Crosswell, all tied to landmarks near a cross or sacred wayside object. It appears in Anglo-English surname discussion rather than as a distinctive noble or occupational name. In the modern United States it is best known as a relatively uncommon surname, and it may also occur as an Anglicized or assimilated form of German surnames in some families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century etymologist grouped Grossman with names that could come from living beside a village cross or a cross placed near a sacred well.
From the historical record
“find no locality so called. GROSSMAN. Probably from residence near a cross. See Cross and Crouch. CROSSWELL. CROSSWELLER. In the middle ages, when many wells were deemed sacred, crosses were often erected near them, to denote their sanctity. A resident near such a .spot would readily ac- quire the surname of Afte…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom