Where Does the Man Surname Come From?

Behind the Man surname stands Mann, an English name that clerks and families wrote in more than one way. Without the “n” of Mann, Man is a simpler written form of the same name. The family name meaning is “Man, servant”, the same as for Mann. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists.

Other spellings include Manns and Mannes.

Arms linked to Mann and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to. Get the complete Man report, with a museum-style coat of arms.