Hardman Family History

English (chiefly Lancashire): occupational name for a herdsman, a variant of Herdman (see Heard). (The change of -er- to -ar- was a regular phonetic pattern in Old French and Middle English.) English: from an unattested Old English personal name Heardmann, composed of the elements heard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’ + mann ‘man’. According to Reaney and Wilson, compound names with this second element became common in late Old English in eastern England. Irish: of English origin (see above), but sometimes confused with Harman. Dutch: variant of Hardeman 2. Americanized spelling of German Hartmann.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press