BULMAN
Bulman is a surname of English origin that first appears in the medieval documents of the British Isles. It is associated with the Kingdom of England and is predominantly found within that country. The name is constructed from Old English elements and denotes a specific occupation carried out in agrarian society.
As a job-descriptive surname, Bulman historically identified an individual who worked directly with bulls. The Old English word bula which means “bull” evolved through Middle English to forms such as bul(l)e and bol(l)e, while the element mann simply means “man”. Consequently the surname literally translates as “bull‑man” or “bull‑keeper”. It was originally a descriptive epithet that later became hereditary.
The earliest recorded instance of the name is in the “Pipe Rolls of Norfolk”, dated 1209, where a person named Ailward Buleman is listed. Earlier references include Wulfwin Bule in Hampshire in 1170 and William Bull in Lincolnshire in 1216. These early attestations illustrate that the name was already in use across different parts of England by the first half of the twelfth century.
In the Fourteenth and Fifteenth centuries, the surname appears in a variety of spellings. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 record a John Boleman in Cambridgeshire, while a Walter Bulleman served as rector of Intwood in Norfolk in 1392. The History of Norfolk, compiled by Blomefield and Parkin, notes a Thomas Bulman who was prior of Wayborn in 1530. These entries demonstrate how the name remained prevalent among individuals of different social positions, from clergy to laymen.
The Northumbrian connection is particularly strong. In 1599, a Catherine daughter of John Bulman was christened at Morpeth, illustrating the lineage of the name in this northern county. By the early seventeenth century, a John Bullman acted as a witness at a christening in the same parish on 20 April 1634. These records confirm the persistence of the surname in Northumberland from medieval to early modern times.
Heraldic records provide further insight into the name’s standing. The Bulman family of Northumberland were granted a coat of arms that features a red shield with three silver wavy bars, set on a gold chief. In the chief, a silver annulet lies between two black bull‑heads cabossed, each through the nostrils. The crest is described as a silver bull passant upon a green mount, its right foot resting on an azure roundle. This heraldic description confirms the long association between the family and the bull, symbolically reinforcing the occupational origin of the surname.
Variations of the surname include Bullman, though Bulman is the form most frequently recorded in contemporary documentation. The difference in spelling is largely orthographic and reflects the fluidity of medieval spelling practices.
The surname originates within a Christian cultural context, consistent with the religious affiliations of England during the Middle Ages. Its derivation from an occupational role aligns with the broader pattern of English surnames that emerged from the need to distinguish individuals within increasingly populated settlements.
Overall, the Bulman surname exemplifies how early occupational identifiers transformed into hereditary family names. Its presence across various counties, the documentation of clergy and laypersons carrying the name, and its heraldic representation all attest to a name that began as an everyday description of a man’s profession and evolved into a recognised family identity within English society.
Typical given names associated with the Bulman surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- John
- Keith
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
- William
Female
- Angela
- Anne
- Barbara
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jennifer
- Margaret
- Patricia
- Pauline
- Sarah
- Stephanie
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Bulman in...
Braille
⠃⠥⠇⠍⠁⠝
Morse
-.....-.-..--.--.
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,829 people named Bulman in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,528th most common surname in Britain. Around 28 in a million people in Britain are named Bulman.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Bulman
- Dannie Bulman - Football player
- George Bulman - Pilot and RAF officer (1896 to 1963)
- Oliver Bulman - Palaeontologist (1902 to 1974)
- Matt Bulman - Football player
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.