Berryman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An old occupational name for someone who picks or sells berries ; a family name borne by John Berryman, the American poet of the twentieth century
2. A worker who gathers or trades in wild or cultivated berries ; a surname associated with John Berryman, a major American poet
3. Someone whose job is harvesting or selling berries ; the surname of the twentieth-century American poet John Berryman

Etymology: "Berryman" is a surname rather than a common word, and it was formed from two Old English elements: the dative form of "burg," meaning "stronghold" or "fortress," and "man." Its name is habitational, meaning it was originally given to someone who lived at or near a fortified place. The "byrg" form of the first element reflects the dative case, the grammatical form used after certain prepositions, so the name records a phrase like "man at the stronghold" rather than a bare noun. The name therefore carries an image of medieval settlement, with a fortified site at its heart and a resident who took his identity from it. Over centuries, the spelling shifted as Old English sounds softened and English spelling settled, producing the familiar modern form. Surnames of this type were common across England, where many families took names from the places where they lived.