Naumann
A German surname meaning “new man,” originally a form of Neumann.
The #9,669 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,998 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Naumann is a German surname related to Neumann, built from words meaning “new” and “man.” The older form behind it uses Old High German niuwi (“new”) plus mann (“man”). In some regions, Naum- reflects a dialectal pronunciation or spelling of the same root as Neu-/Neumann.
History
The surname is chiefly German in origin and appears as a regional variant of Neumann. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century surname scholars often treated it as one of several "new man" names, alongside forms like Neubauer and Neugebauer. It is found in German-speaking areas and later spread through migration to North America and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries explicitly gloss Naumann as just another form of Neumann, showing how often German surnames shifted by dialect rather than by a change in meaning.
From the historical record
“NAUMANN (Ger.) a form of Neumann, q.v. NEUBAUER 1 (Ger.) New Peasant NEUGEBAUER J [O.H.Ger. niuwi, new -|- gCjbAro, peasant, husbandman] NEUMANN (Ger.) New Man [O.H.Ger. O.Sax. niuwi, new -|- mann] NIEBUHR (Ger.) a Low Ger. form of Neu-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)