Hindman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, borne by various people ; a small town in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky
2. A surname carried by a number of individuals ; a rural community located in Knott County, Kentucky
3. A family name found in English-speaking countries ; an Appalachian town in eastern Kentucky that serves as the county seat

Etymology: Hindman is an English surname built from two plain words. "Hind" in Middle English could mean a farm servant or rural labourer, and "man" is the ordinary word for a person. The name was most likely a status or occupational name for someone who worked on a landowner's farm, following the same pattern as Smith or Miller. "Hind" is also the word for a female deer, but that is a separate word, and the two are probably unrelated. The surname draws on the servant sense.