| ![Show Contents]() Offman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
Israel
Etymology of OffmanWhat does the name Offman mean? The name Offman is a proud symbol of ancient Jewish culture. Before the late Middle Ages, people were known only by a single name. However, as the population increased and travelers set out on their journeys, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves. Jewish hereditary surnames were adopted from a variety of different sources. The surname Offman is of two possible derivations. In the first case, it is an occupational surname, which derives from the German word hof, which means settlement, or farm. Many Jews in the Russian Empire held such managerial positions on non-Jewish estates. The other meaning of the surname comes from the Yiddish word hofn, which means hope. As such, it was taken as a symbol, and was given to someone who had hope for the future. Offman Spelling VariationsSpelling variations of this family name include: Hoffman, Hofman, Hofmann, Goffman, Gofman, Hoffer, Hofer, Hofner, Hoffner, Gofer, Goffer, Ofman and many more.
| Offman migration to the United States | + |
Some of the first settlers of this family name were: Offman Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Christian Offman, aged 44, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1807 1
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
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