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Herman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Herman is a masculine given name, from an ancient Germanic name consisting of the elements harja- "army" and mann- "man". Hermine is the feminine form of Herman.[1]
It is first recorded in the 8th century, in the forms Hariman, Heriman, Hairman, Herman.[2]
It regained popularity in the English-speaking world in the 19th century, particularly in the United States amongst German Americans.[3]
Herman remains widely used in Dutch and Scandinavian languages. Variant forms include German Hermann, French Armand, Italian and Iberian Armando, Italian Ermanno.[3]
Herman has also been in use as a German surname since the 16th century.[citation needed]
The name of Arminius, the 1st-century leader of the Cherusci, became identified with the name Hermann in German historiography in the early modern period; thus, Arminius is traditionally known as Hermann der Cheruskerfürst in German. The name of Arminius is in fact from a stem ermen- "strong". The conflation of this element with the name Herman may indeed date to the medieval period, via variant forms such as Ermin, Ermen, Erman, Ermanno, feminine Ermina, Ermana, Hirmina, Hermena.[4]
Modern
The name Herman was popular in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, consistently ranking between 55 and 44 throughout the 1880–1914 period. Beginning with World War I, the name's popularity entered a steady decline for the remainder of the twentieth century, falling below rank 1,000 in the year 2000.[5]
- Herman (Aav), (1878–1961), head of the Orthodox Church of Finland
- Herman (Swaiko) (1932–2022), former head of the Orthodox Church in America
- Herman M. Albert (1901–1947), American lawyer and politician
- Herman D. Aldrich (1801–1880), American businessman
- Herman Barron (1909–1978), American professional golfer
- Herman Berendsen (1934–2019), Dutch chemist
- Herman Berlinski (1910–2001), German-born American composer and conductor
- Herman Bouma (born 1934), Dutch vision researcher and gerontechnologist
- Herman Cain (1945–2020), American businessman, talk show host, and candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination
- Herman Carroll Sr (born 1952) American fugitive
- Herman Dreer (1888–1981), American academic administrator, educational reformer and activist, author, editor, minister, and civil rights leader
- Herman Edwards (born 1954), known as Herm Edwards, American football player and coach
- Herman Becker Fast (1887-1938), American businessman, farmer, politician
- Herman Goldstein (1939–2020), American criminologist
- Herman Goldstine (1913–2004), American mathematician and computer scientist
- Herman W. Hellman (1843–1906), German-born American Jewish businessman
- Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter
- Herman Johannes (1912–1992), Indonesian professor, scientist and politician
- Herman José (born 1954), Portuguese showman, singer and comedian
- Herman Leenders (born 1960), Flemish writer and poet
- Herman Li (李康敏 Lǐ Kāng Mǐn, born 1976), Chinese musician
- Herman Lieberman (1870–1941), Polish lawyer and politician
- Herman Long (disambiguation), multiple people
- Herman J. Mankiewicz (1897–1953), American screenwriter
- Herman Francis Mark (1895–1992), Austrian-American chemist
- Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist
- Herman A. Metz (1867–1934), German-born -American U.S. Representative from New York and New York City Comptroller and businessman
- Herman Miller (Wisconsin politician) (1833–1922), American politician
- Herman Miller (writer) (1919–1999), American screenwriter and film producer
- Herman Redemeijer (1930–2020), Dutch politician
- Herman Salmon (1913–1980), American barnstormer, air racer, and test pilot
- Herman Leonard de Silva (1928–2009), Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations
- Herman Stump (1837–1917), American politician
- Herman Suselbeek (born 1943), Dutch rower
- Herman Terrado (born 1989), Guam-born American mixed martial artist
- Herman van Bekkum (1932–2020), Dutch chemist
- Herman Van der Wee (born 1928), Belgian economic historian
- Herman van Praag (born 1929), Dutch psychiatrist
- Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk (born 1948), Brazilian chess player
- Herman Van Rompuy (born 1947), Belgian politician, first President of the European Council
- Herman Van Springel (1943–2022), Belgian cyclist
- Herman van Veen (born 1945), Dutch stage performer, actor, musician, singer/songwriter and author
- Herman Vedel (1875–1948), Danish painter
- Herman Wirth (1885–1981), Dutch-German lay historian and scholar
- Herman Wouk (1915–2019), American author
- Herman Zetterberg (1904–1963), Swedish jurist and politician
- Stage name
- Peter Noone (born 1947), English singer-songwriter and actor, stage name Herman as leader of the pop group Herman's Hermits
As a surname
Variants include Herrmann, Herrman, Herman, Hermann, Hermanns
Disambiguation lists
Early modern
Modern
- Arthur L. Herman (born 1956), American historian
- Babe Herman (1903–1987), Major League Baseball right fielder
- Billy Herman (1909–1992), Major League Baseball second baseman
- David Herman (born 1967), American actor
- Elisabeth Hermans, Belgian soprano
- Faithe Herman, American actress
- Hanna Herman (born 1959), Ukrainian state and political activist
- Henry Herman, pen name of Henry Heydrac D'Arco (1832–1894), English dramatist and novelist
- Jerry Herman (1931–2019), American composer
- Josef Herman (1911–2000), Polish-British painter
- Josephine Herman, Cook Islander physician
- Louis Herman (1930–2016), American marine biologist
- M. Justin Herman (1909–1971), American public administrator; Executive Director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency
- Oskar Herman (1886–1974), Croatian painter
- Ottó Herman (1835–1914), Hungarian zoologist, ethnographer, archaeologist, and politician
- Robin Herman (1951-2022), American sports journalist
- Róża Herman (1902–1995), Polish chess master
- Vilim Herman (born 1949), Croatian university professor, politician and former representative in the Croatian Parliament
- Woody Herman (1913–1987), American jazz clarinetist and big band leader
- Yaron Herman (born 1981), Israeli jazz pianist
Fictional characters
