MAN

MAN. A veiy usual tei-mination of English surnames, as Workman, Longman, Newman, Potman, Waterman — which explain themselves. There ai'e however some, of a local origin, which require a few remarks. In the XIII. & XIV. centuries, many jDersons received family names, not from the designation, hut from the sit Nation, of their residences. A plebeian, for instance, who dwelt at a grove, would be called William at the Grove, or more curtly, AVills. atte Grove. In the succeeding centuries the awkward atfe, sometimes softened to J.' was dropped, and the name became simply Grove, Grover, or Grove??;??. In like manner were formed Beckman from beck, Castleman from castle. Crouchman from crouch, Lakeman from lake, Parkman from park, and many others. See ER.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.