Revision History

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4/23/2024, 9:35 PM Mike C update #115
12/7/2022, 9:35 PM Mike C update #113
4/25/2021, 10:07 PM Mike C update #110
2/4/2020, 9:06 PM Mike C update #107
11/16/2019, 11:04 AM Mike C update #105
6/13/2019, 12:17 AM Mike C update #104
2/28/2019, 2:08 PM Mike C update #102
1/22/2019, 10:01 AM Mike C update #101
1/10/2017, 9:56 AM Mike C update #94
12/3/2014, 12:28 AM Mike C update #89
1/25/2013, 11:59 PM Mike C update #85
2/12/2007, 1:03 AM Mike C earliest recorded revision

Gender Masculine
Pronounced Pron. HUR-mən(English) HEHR-mahn(Dutch)

Meaning & History

Means "army man", derived from the Old German elements heri "army" and man "person, man". It was introduced to England by the Normans, died out, and was revived in the English-speaking world in the 19th century. It was borne by an 18th-century Russian missionary to Alaska who is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church, though in his case the name is an alternate transcription of German. Another famous bearer was the American writer Herman Melville (1819-1891), the author of Moby-Dick.