Whitman
Usually an English nickname surname meaning “white man,” though some sources also connect it with the older personal name Wightman.
The #1,851 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,916 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most dictionaries treat Whitman as a form of Whiteman: Middle English whit meaning “white” plus man, so the literal sense is “white man.” In older surname writing, that could refer to a very pale complexion or sometimes simply mark a person by appearance. One 19th-century source also suggested a link with the older name Wightman, but the “white man” explanation is the standard one.
History
Whitman is established in English records and later carried to North America and other English-speaking countries. It has also been used as an anglicized spelling for some Continental surnames, especially German forms such as Widmann in immigrant records. The surname is familiar in the United States through figures such as the poet Walt Whitman.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Walt Whitman helped make the surname one of the most recognizable in American literature.
From the historical record
“Cp. Whitelaw. WHITMAN = Whiteman, q.v. WHITMARSH (Eng.) Dweller at the White Marsh [O.E. hwit + mersc] WHITMELL (Eng.) = Whitmlll, q.v. (Scand.) Dweller at the White Sand- HiLL [O.N. hutt-r + mel-r, a sand-hill, sand-bank]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)