Greenman Surname

97,484th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 4,868 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Northern Mariana Islands

Greenman Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the green man,' signifying a savage. Struttdescribes the greenmen of old shows as 'whimsically attired and disguised with droll masks, having large staves or clubs headed with cases of crackers.' The term is still retained in the sign of The Greenman and Still in Oxford Street and other places (Halliwell); compare Greenleaf.

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Greenman Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States3,6611:99,00511,001
England5211:106,94411,177
Israel2841:30,1334,296
Canada1351:272,93025,634
Wales761:40,7183,964
Australia571:473,60936,415
New Zealand471:96,34713,070
Germany221:3,659,339158,771
Northern Mariana Islands141:3,899389
Brazil121:17,839,528311,080
South Africa81:6,772,213167,054
Russia41:36,030,764577,589
Philippines41:25,309,556279,062
Switzerland31:2,737,638105,941
Argentina21:21,371,707253,176
Thailand21:35,319,172966,191
United Arab Emirates11:9,162,273135,437
Cayman Islands11:63,8932,384
France11:66,422,722504,397
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Belarus11:9,501,059159,228
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Guyana11:762,22114,420
Kuwait11:3,800,69427,187
Spain11:46,752,036156,870
South Korea11:51,240,2568,015
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Scotland11:5,353,81763,002
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland11:4,429,86640,727
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England2511:97,1139,892
Wales131:120,6475,000
Scotland11:3,743,21632,299
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States9371:53,5956,031

Greenman (24) may also be a first name.

Greenman Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the green man,' signifying a savage. Struttdescribes the greenmen of old shows as 'whimsically attired and disguised with droll masks, having large staves or clubs headed with cases of crackers.' The term is still retained in the sign of The Greenman and Still in Oxford Street and other places (Halliwell); compare Greenleaf. These men, attired in green leaves, were ever an accompaniment in public pageants. The Lord Mayor's Show used to engage their services. 'Then cam 2 grett wodyn with a grett clubes all in grene': Machyn's Diary, Oct. 29, 1553. 'On the x of Julee met her (Queen Elizabeth) in the Forest, as he came from hunting, one clad like a savage man all in ivie': Nicholl's Progresses of Queen Elizabeth. As with King, which see, Greenman or Greenleaf became the popular sobriquet of the man who represented the character, and passed on to his children. But see further History of Signboards. In spite of all this it is probable that Greenman was the cant name at a still earlier period for a forester, who was always dressed in 'Lincoln' or 'Kendal green,' as all our ballads relate; v. History of Signboards.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) 1 Forester, Game- keeper (from their green garb) [Old English gréne + mann) 2 name derived from a trade-sign.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) Dweller at the sign of the green man; a forest warden (who dressed in green); one who enacted that part in plays and pageants.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

Perhaps the same as Greener; or it may be a keeper of game, from the colour of his costume in the old times of "vert and venison." A keeper of Broyle park, at Ringmer, co. Sussex, on retiring from his duties opened an inn, to which he gave the name of the Green Man, the sign being his own portrait.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Greenman Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Greenman Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Greenman has its highest incidence in The United States. It can also appear in the variant forms:. For other possible spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Greenman? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 97,484th most widely held surname at a global level It is held by approximately 1 in 1,497,031 people. This surname occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 78 percent of Greenman live; 78 percent live in North America and 78 percent live in Anglo-North America. Greenman is also the 2,187,323rd most frequently held given name worldwide It is held by 24 people.

Greenman is most commonly held in The United States, where it is borne by 3,661 people, or 1 in 99,005. In The United States Greenman is primarily concentrated in: Michigan, where 13 percent live, New York, where 12 percent live and California, where 8 percent live. Barring The United States this surname occurs in 31 countries. It is also common in England, where 11 percent live and Israel, where 6 percent live.

Greenman Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Greenman has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people who held the Greenman last name increased 391 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 208 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it increased 585 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Greenman Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the last name is primarily Anglican (100%) in Ireland.

In The United States those bearing the Greenman surname are 8.36% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 55.13% being registered to vote for the party.

The amount Greenman earn in different countries varies somewhat. In United States they earn 13.01% more than the national average, earning $48,763 USD per year and in Canada they earn 2.07% more than the national average, earning $50,710 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Greenman
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis