Hermanson
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Herman.”
The #8,402 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 78,422 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hermanson is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Herman plus the patronymic ending -son, meaning “son of Herman.” The name Herman goes back to a Germanic given name formed from elements meaning “army” and “man.” In English records, forms like Hermanson were used alongside related names such as Harman and Herman.
History
The name appears in English surname collections as a straightforward patronymic, and it is also familiar in Scandinavian naming patterns where -son surnames are common. The same form can therefore reflect either an English family name built from Herman or a Scandinavian-style patronymic later fixed as a hereditary surname. The excerpts also note a separate historical use of Herman/Her- forms in names recorded in medieval and early modern sources.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley grouped Hermanson with other surnames formed from a father's given name, like Perkins from Perkin and Clark from Clerk.
From the historical record
“This was really his baptismal name : probably he was Rembrandt Her- (Hermanson), or Rem- Rign,' Oct. 8 1669 (v. Chambers' Encyclop. viii, iBo). I suspect Remnant (an imitative comipticn)”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances