Youmans
A surname most likely arising as a variant spelling of Yeomans, ultimately linked to the word for “young” or “the younger.”
The #6,647 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,633 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Youmans is a spelling variant of Yeomans. The name is usually traced to Middle English words meaning “young,” from Old English geong, used as a byname for a younger man or for a son distinguished from an older man of the same name. In this tradition, the sense is essentially “the younger” or “junior.”
History
Historical surname collections treat Youmans as a form of Yeomans, and related spellings such as Young and Younge were often used for the same nickname-based surname family. In English records, these names became hereditary over time and were especially common where one man was distinguished from another by age or generation. The modern spelling Youmans is now comparatively uncommon and is especially visible in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same nickname idea behind Youmans also helped create one of the most common English surnames, Young.
From the historical record
“-I- O.E. tun, farm, &c.] YOUMANS, V. Yeomans. YOUNG "I (Eng.) This name doubtless owes YOUNGE I ifs C9mmonness to being used in the sense of 'the younger' or 'junior' [M.E. yong{e, yung{e, O.E. geong, young] . John le Yonge. — ffund.^RoUs. Young, in our directories, is often a recent Anglicization of the cognate Gei-.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)