Holman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, carried by many people across several generations and countries
2. A hereditary surname passed down through families, found widely in England and in English-speaking countries
3. A common family name shared by many individuals, recorded in English and American records for centuries

Etymology: "Holman" is chiefly an English surname, and its most likely source is the Old English "holm," meaning an islet or a patch of low, riverside meadow, with "man" added to name a person who lived by or worked such land. Surnames of this kind were often formed from a place where a family lived, so the name may have started as a description of someone's home. The exact origin is uncertain, as many English surnames of this type are, and different families may have arrived at the name independently. The name is best known today through the Victorian painter William Holman Hunt, a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, though the name itself predates him.