Ancient Roots of the Goodman Surname

In "The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British Dominions and the United States", we find several references to other works in which the Godeman (Goodman) name are mentioned. In 1086, N. Godeman owned large estates in Suffolk and Essex (Domesday Book). Ranulph Godeman of Normandy is recorded in "Magn. Rotul. Scacearii Normanniae in the Memoires de la Societe des Antiquaires de la Normandie, t. 16-17". Also mentioned are Ralph and Harry Godman of England c. 1272. The surname may have first been found in Norfolk where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

The town of Goodmanham in Yorkshire, in north Britain, has existed since 627 AD, when one early manuscript references an important meeting that took place there, although the name may have been anglicized by the translator or publisher of that account, or may be just a reference to a modern location for the ancient meeting place. The ancient name Godmundingaham is derived from the Celtic 'Godo', an uncovered sanctuary or temple, and 'mynyddis', meaning a hilly place. Therefore, it is NOT named for any Goodman family.

As noted below, the name Goodman may have come from the Old English: Gudmond; Gûd - battle, münd - protection. It would be an appropriate name for a member of the King’s personal bodyguard. The personal bodyguard of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1685, where his forces defeated and killed Richard III, the last Plantagenet Kings, and he where won his crown as Henry VII, were reported to be mostly Welsh.

The origin of the name Goodman

English:
1: status name from Middle English gode + man good + man, in part from use as a term for the master of an household. In Scotland the term was used of a landowner, however large his estate, who held his land not directly from the crown but from a feudal vassal of the king.
2: from a Middle English given name Godeman, Old English Godmann, composed of the elements god good or god god + mann man.
3: from the Old English personal name Guðmund, composed of the elements guð + mund battle + protection, or the Old Norse cognate Guðmundr.
4: Jewish (Ashkenazic): anglicization of any of the Jewish surnames given below. Cognates (of 1): German: Gutermann, Gutmann, Guttmann. Jewish (Ashkenazic): Giterman, Gitterman (South Ashkenazic); Gutman (also used as a male given name, from which the surname may in some cases be derived), Gutmann, Guttman, Guttmann; Guterman, Gutterman. Low German: Godemann, Gothmann, Gudemann.
Patronymics (from 1): Dutch, Flemish: Goemans. (from 3): Swedish: Gudmundsson.
Variants: Goddman, Godman, Goduman.