From Old English occupational surname meaning 'shearer,' one who shears cloth or sheep.
Sherman is an English occupational surname that crossed into given-name use in the nineteenth century, derived from the Old English "scēarmann" — a shearman, the craftsman who trimmed the nap of woven cloth to give it a smooth finish. It was skilled, respected work, and the surname carried with it connotations of industry and precision. As surnames became fashionable first names in America during the post-Civil War era, Sherman rode a particular wave of patriotic association.
General William Tecumseh Sherman loomed largest over the name's American adoption. His scorched-earth March to the Sea in 1864 made him one of the war's most consequential — and controversial — figures, and thousands of boys born in the years after were named in his honor, especially in Union states. The name thus carries an ambivalent historical charge: strategic genius and terrible destruction in equal measure.
Later, Sherman entered the cultural imagination more gently through the cartoon character Sherman from "Peabody and Sherman," the brilliant boy-companion to the time-traveling dog, Mr. Peabody. By the mid-twentieth century, Sherman had largely settled into the background of American names — solid, recognizable, but unfashionable. It has recently attracted renewed interest among parents who appreciate its strong consonant structure and its vintage Americana feel, sitting comfortably alongside revived names like Chester, Clifford, and Roscoe.