Neumann
A German surname meaning “new man,” originally a nickname or label for a newcomer.
The #2,067 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,659 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Neumann comes from German neu- meaning “new” and Mann meaning “man.” The older form is usually explained from Old High German niuwi “new” + mann “man,” giving the literal sense “new man.” In surname use, it likely began as a descriptive nickname for someone who was new to a place or community.
History
Historical surname dictionaries consistently treat Neumann as the standard German form, with related spellings and forms such as Naumann and Nyman appearing in different regions or languages. The name also spread beyond German-speaking areas through migration and Anglicization, and it has straightforward cognates in several European naming traditions. In some contexts it is linked with place-based or dialectal variants, but the core meaning remains “new man.”
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is so transparent in meaning that 19th-century name books often gloss it simply as “New Man.”
From the historical record
“gCjbAro, peasant, husbandman] NEUMANN (Ger.) New Man [O.H.Ger. O.Sax. niuwi, new -|- mann] NIEBUHR (Ger.) a Low Ger. form of Neu- bauer, q.v. NUSSBAUM (Ger.) Nut-Tree; Walnut- Tree [O.H.Ger. nuz, nut -I- bourn, tree] ■ OHLSEN 1 (Scand.) Ole's i.e. Olaf's Son OLSEN J [see under OlifT in Diet. : Dan.- Norw. son, son]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)