Given name & surname
Hoffman
“a courtier”
Hoffman is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “a courtier.”
Original GermanHoffmann
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “a courtier.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Hoffman through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1912
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1912. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 119 as a first name in 2020; 124,557 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.
Hoffman’s family of names
Hoffman has a related form in Hoffmann. Hoffman has a related form in Hoffmen. Hoffman has a related form in Hofman.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Hoffman has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
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