Boy · Old High German
Hermann
Say it: HAIR-mahn
Meaning
From Germanic heri 'army' and man 'man'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
From the 16th century German writers identified it, without real evidence, with the Cheruscan leader Arminius.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 721 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1880, about 1 in 12,300 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Herman
| English | Herman |
|---|---|
| Dutch | Herman |
| Italian | Ermanno |
| French | Armand |
Famous bearers
- Hermann Hesse, novelist
- Hermann von Helmholtz, physicist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.