Heiman
A surname with several possible roots, including a Dutch-Jewish personal name and a Germanic compound built from “home” or “house” elements.
The #8,144 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,859 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name appears to have more than one origin. In Dutch contexts, older writers treated Heiman as either a shortened form of Heideman/Heidtman or as a surname taken from a given name Heiman used among Dutch Jews. In German and related forms, it may also be connected with personal-name elements meaning “home” or “house,” though the exact pathway is not always clear. Because the surname occurs in several closely related spellings, different families may have independent origins.
History
The historical record shows spellings such as Heiman, Heyman, and Heimans, especially in Dutch and Jewish communities. Nineteenth-century onomastic writers already disagreed on whether the name was primarily a contracted compound or derived from a personal name in Jewish use. In English-speaking countries, it was also sometimes compared with similar surnames like Hayman, which may be unrelated in specific cases.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older Dutch surname studies specifically note that Heiman could be written in several ways, even with a misspelling like Hijman in some records.
From the historical record
“ton Bishop, Devon Hayman. From Heman ; aloe, n., Germany. Dch. Heiman ; FI. Heman, Heyman ; p.n. Or A.S. ./Eceman (edge-man) Haynes. From Haiene, Norm. ; a loc. n., Beds, Devon. See Haines.”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)