Given name & surname
Herman
“a soldier”
Herman is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “a soldier.”
Original GermanHermann
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “a soldier.”
Where it comes from
A possible origin is German, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
In English use, Herman is used as a form of Hermann.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Herman is a form of Hermann. The history of Hermann gives this family its wider story. Hermann was in use during the 19th century.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Herman through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 136,772
- 135,977 boys · 795 girls
- Most popular year
- 1921
- 3,239 babies
- 2025
- 58
- #2,368 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −20%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 58 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,368 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 20.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 3,219 in 1921. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (10). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 42,824 as a first name in 2020; 39,217 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Herman’s family of names
In English usage, Herman has a diminutive in Hermie. In English usage, Herman shares a linguistic root with the French form Armand. In English usage, Herman has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Armando.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Herman has relatives in 19 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Germanwhere Herman comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 19
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 21
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Herman
- Herman MelvilleAmerican writer and poet (1819–1891)
- Herman Van RompuyBelgian politician; former Prime Minister of Belgium and first permanent President of the European Council (born 1947)
- Herman HollerithAmerican statistician and inventor（1860-1929）
- Herman BoerhaaveDutch botanist, chemist, humanist, and physician (1668–1738)
- Herman WoukAmerican writer (1915-2019)
- Herman CainAmerican businessman (1945–2020)
- Sun RaAmerican jazz composer and bandleader (1914–1993)
- Władysław I HermanDuke of Poland (1043-1102)
- Ray WalstonAmerican actor (1914–2001)
Characters named Herman: Shocker (Marvel Comics, introduced in 1966).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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