This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Godmund.' Of course Godman may beavariant of Goodman, which see. In fact the instances are stronglyin favour of that solution. Still Godmund existed, and this would inevitably become Godman; compare Osman for Osmund, and Wyman for Wymond.

Ricardus Godmund, Suffolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Godman de la Grene, Norfolk, ibid.

Martin Godman, Essex, ibid.

1671. Richard Sell and Mary Godman:

Marriage Alleg. (Canterbury).

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Godmund,' corrupted to Goodman; compare Osman, Wyman, Roseaman, &c, from Osmund, Wymond, Rosamund, &c.

Richard Godmund, Suffolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Godman Bra, Norfolk, ibid.

Alan fil. Godemanni, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Godman Omet, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Godman le Glaggere. Placitorum in domo capitulari Westmonasteriensi.

Herbert fil. Godman. Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londinensi.

(a) Occup. Equivalent to householder, the goodman as opposed to goodwife; compare husband and housewife. 'The goodman of the house': Matt. xx. 11. 'The goodman is not at home': Prov. vii. 19. See Husband.

Muriel Godeman, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Henry le Godman, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Willelmus Gudeman, 1376: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Johannes Godeman, 1379: ibid.

Willelmus Godeman, 1379: ibid.

John Godeman, Close Rolls, 18 Richard II.

'Will Grame, goodman of Medop,' 1602: Nicolson and Burn, History Westm. and Cumb.

1654. Buried — Charles, s. Charles Goodman: St. Michael Cornhill.

(1) The common Old English personal name Godmann, ME. Godeman, Latinized Bonus Homo and Homo Dei (Searle). (2) In Scotland the designation given to a landowner however large his estate, who held his land not of the Crown but of a subject (Joseph Bain).

(English) 1 the fairly common Anglo-Saxon Godman(n [Old English God, God, a god; and gód, good + man(n] This name was Latinized both Homo Dei and Bonus Homo.

2 Master of a House [Middle English go(o)d(e- man, Old English gód+man(n] Henry le Godman.—Hundred Rolls If that the goode-man that the beestes oweth [owns] Wol [will] every wyke [week], er that the cok hym croweth, Fastynge, drinken of this welle a draughte... His beestes and his stoor shal multiplie.— Chaucer, Cant. Tales, C 361, ff.

3 perh. occasionally for Godmund, q.v

Translation of “Tobias” in Hebrew. (Good Man).

(English, Scottish) Descendant of Godmann (good man), or of Gudmund (war, protection); a landowner who held as a sub-tenant.

(from the name of a male ancestor) or (from the name of a female ancestor) This is an English version of the Jewish name Gutman, and Gutman is the translation of the Hebrew name Tuviah. Sometimes Goodman is a matronym for Gute (which is more common as Gittel) in the following forms: Guter, Gutter, Gutterman, Gutfeld, Gutfreund, Gutreich, and Gutstein.

1. Gudmund, a very common Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon baptismal name. 2. A common form of address in old times. Also a complimentary sobriquet. Thus a great-grandson of the famous William Belward was called Goodman. English Surn. ii. 49.

1. The same as Woodman. 2. From the Old German and Anglo-Saxon baptismal name Gudmund, "powerful in war."

Ranulph Godeman of Normandy, 1198 (Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae). N. Godeman in 1086 owned large estates Suffolk and Essex (Domesd.); Ralph and Henry Godman of England, c. 1272 (Rotuli Hundredorum).

From the Old Norse, Guðmundr; from the Swedish, Gudmund; from the Danish, Gudmann; from the Frisian, Goddeman, Goodman; from the German, Guttmann; in the Domesday Book, Godman, Godmund, Gudmund; a personal name.