Hillman
A surname usually meaning “the person who lived on or near a hill,” though a few cases may come from an old personal name instead.
The #2,321 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,618 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hillman is most straightforwardly a topographic surname formed from Middle English hill and man, meaning someone who lived by or on a hill. Early spellings recorded by lexicographers include forms like Atte-Hill and Ate Hull, which show the older “at the hill” style of surname. A minority of instances may be from an old Germanic personal name beginning with Hilde- rather than from the landscape word.
History
English surname writers from the 19th century treated Hillman mainly as a residence-based name, and that remains the standard explanation. Because similar-looking medieval names could also be shortened or reshaped from baptismal names such as Hilde- names, some lines of Hillman may have more than one origin. The name is established in Britain and also appears in North America through later migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One early surname pattern behind Hillman was the medieval phrase “atte Hill,” literally “at the hill,” which later hardened into a fixed family name.
From the historical record
“HILLIER. See Hillyer. HILLMAN. From residence upon some hill. Its ancient forms are Atte-Hill, Ate Hull, &c. HILLS. See Hill. HILLYER. See Hellier. HIN”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom