Forman Family History
Forman Name Meaning
English: status name for a leader or spokesman for a group from Middle English fore-man ‘foreman reeve’ (from the Old English prefix fore- ‘foremost’ + mann ‘man’). The word is attested in this sense from the 15th century but is not used specifically for the leader of a gang of workers before the late 16th century. English: variant of Fordman with loss of -d- from Middle English ford ‘ford’ (Old English ford) + man denoting either a dweller by or a keeper of a ford. Compare Forder . Americanized form of German Fohrmann (see Fohrman ). Czech and Jewish (from Bohemia and Moravia): occupational name for a carter Czech forman a loanword from German.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022