Herman

Where Herman comes from

From Old English here (“army”) + man (“man”) It was revived in the 19th century, partly due to American immigrants from continental Europe where the name has been more popular. Compare the German equivalent Hermann.
— Wiktionary's entry for Herman
  • Germanic
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1819
    Herman Melville born
    American writer and poet
  2. 1860
    Herman Hollerith born
    American statistician and inventor（1860-1929）
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #48 among boys — 347 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1893
    Peak, #44
    455 babies named Herman — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1992
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #698.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Herman Melville · American writer and poet, 1819–1891
  • Herman Hollerith · American statistician and inventor（1860-1929）, 1860–1929
  • Herman Boerhaave · Dutch botanist, chemist, humanist, and physician, 1668–1738
  • Herman Wouk · American writer, 1915–2019
  • Herman Cain · American businessman, 1945–2020

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.