Sherman
An English surname that can mean a cloth-shearer or, less commonly, a shire man from a county.
The #469 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,379 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sherman is usually taken as a variant of Shearman, from Middle English sheeren or scheren, meaning “to shear,” plus man, so the literal sense is “one who shears.” In that older occupational sense it could refer to a worker who sheared cloth or similar material. Some 19th-century writers also suggested a separate derivation from Old English scirman, “shire man,” meaning a man of the shire or county, but the occupational explanation is generally the better-attested one.
History
The name appears in medieval English records and was later common enough to survive in both spellings, Sherman and Shearman. Bardsley and Harrison note examples in English town and court records, especially around Chester and London. In Ireland the surname can also occur through English settlement, though the core etymology remains English.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower quotes an old Norfolk usage of shire man for someone born outside the county, showing how easily the surname could be confused with a similar-sounding social label.
From the historical record
“Cp. the Cheshire place-name Shurlach. SHERMAN = Shearman, q.v. In the Rolls of the Freemen of the City - of Chester (1392-1700) 'sherman' occurs frequently as a trade-name, e.g. — Nicholas Wilkynson, sherman, alias Nicholas Sherraon, A.D. 1476-7. Sherra”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)