Lehman
A German surname most often meaning “tenant” or “vassal,” though some bearers got it through later spelling changes or variant forms.
The #1,086 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,594 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lehman is usually explained as a German surname built on Middle High German leh(e)n, “a fief or holding,” plus man, “man.” In that sense it referred to a tenant, feudal dependent, or holder of land under obligation to a lord. Older writers also connected it with related forms such as Lehnmann or, less certainly, with English and German surnames that converged in spelling.
History
The name is well established in German-speaking areas and later spread widely through migration, especially in the 19th century to North America. English-language surname writers sometimes grouped it with Leman/Lemon and other similar forms, which can make the history look messier than it is. In the United States, Lehman is now a familiar surname in communities with German ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname books often treated Lehman and Leman as related, but later genealogical records may distinguish them as separate family lines.
From the historical record
“called the Leman. One family of this name, rather recently an-ived from Germany, originally wrote themselves Lehman, which is doubtless a contraction of lehitmann, a vassal or feudal tenant. Inf. Robt. Lemon, Esq., F.S.A. LEMOSY. From the province of”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom