Freeman surname originating in germany?

Question

Wondering if living in SC may have the same roots as me with the surname Freeman originating in Germany. What part of Germany?

Answer 1

Surname: Freeman

The Anglo-Saxon society was divided into various classes, of which "The Freeman" could be described as "Middle Class" in 20th Century terms, although direct comparisons are not possible. Certainly to be a "Free born person" denoted considerable and jealously guarded status. Since most people were effectively slaves. The surname derivation is from the pre 7th Century "freo" meaning "free born" and "man" a servant or worker. The 1188 Pipe Rolls for Essex record one Freman Sceil, and this shows the use of the compound as a rare personal name. Other recordings include Reginald Le Freman, of Worcester in 1221, and Osbert Friman of Bedford in 1240. Edward Freeman (1823 - 1892), wrote "The History of the Norman Conquest" in 1867, whilst James Freeman of Nottingham, who died on June 20th 1968, was the last known survivor of the famous charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, Sudan, in 1898. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Freeman, which was dated 1196, in the "County Pipe Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Answer 2

Where any surname originates is called etymology.. and it is NOT the same as where a person or family originates. And no, you can't assume that someone with the same name as you, is going to have the same roots.

Finding out if someone is related to you, ALWAYS involves finding and confirming exact persons, and having an ancestor in common.  One example is someone with this name, who has been told that their ancestry is German.. only to do the research, and find out that the actual immigrant ancestor DID come from Germany.. but the original name was something else. Many German names became "anglicized" after immigration.  Or.. the family knows they have German ancestry, but after tracing it back.. learns that the wife/ mother was the side of the family, with actual German ancestry.

Bottom line.. please don't confuse the origin of any surname with the actual ancestry/ heritage of a person.

Answer 3

Freeman : origins & meanings:

English: variant of Free.

Irish: Anglicized (‘translated’) form of Gaelic Ó Saoraidhe (see Seery).

In New England, an English equivalent of French Foissy (see Foisy).

Translation of German Freimann (see Freiman).

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Seery : origin & meaning:

Irish (Westmeath): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Saoraidhe ‘descendant of Saoraidhe’, a personal name derived from saordha ‘noble’. It has been Anglicized (‘translated’) as Freeman. Woulfe, however, believes the original Gaelic form was Ó Síoghraidh, from a borrowing of the Norse personal name Sigefrith.

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Foisy : origins & meanings:

French Canadian variant of French Foissy, a habitational name from a place so named in Yonne. In French Canada Foisy is also a secondary surname for Frenière or La Frenière (see Lafreniere), and Americanized as Freeman.

A bearer of the name from Champagne is documented in Trois Rivières, Quebec, in 1667.

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Lafreniere : origin & meaning:

French (Lafrenière): topographic name from frenière ‘place of ash trees’. This is a secondary surname particularly associated with the name Foisy, although also used independently since 1749. It is often Americanized as Freeman.

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Freiman : origins & meanings:

Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German frei ‘free’ + Mann ‘man’.

German (Freimann): status name in the feudal system for a free man as opposed to a bondman or serf.