ORIGINS OF THE NAME YOUMANS

ORIGINS OF THE NAME YOUMANS

The origins of our name are both fascinating and somewhat clouded in mystery. According to “The World Book Of Youmanses”, published by Halbert’s Family Heritage published in 1992, the Youmans surname appears to be occupational in origin. It is from the ancient a Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain and means “one who is a freeholder”. Geographically, it appears to derive originally in England and Scotland. This also tends to track with most of my research. The first mention of the name was in Gloucestershire, Bristol, England and may date back to the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 AD. The actual name at that tome was Yeomans or Yeamans. This was the family seat from earliest known times.

There are many variations of the name Youmans. Almost any phonetically possible variation is represented somewhere. In old England, however, it appears that Yeomans and Yeamans were the predominant variations. In fact, Youmans is not found until we get to the new world.

Some interesting statistics from the 2000 census:

The 2000 US Census claims that

77.31% or 3857 total occurrences, of those with this family name identified themselves as being white,

19.46% or 971 total occurrences, as black,

0.3% or 15 total occurrences as Asian and Pacific Islander,

0.32% or 16 occurrences as American Indian and Native Alaskan,

1.38% or 69 occurrences as two or more races' and

1.22% OR 61 OCCURRENCES AS Hispanic ethnic origin.

These statistics are not surprising. Youmans’ were predominant in New York/ Pennsylvania, Virginia, The Carolinas and Georgia as well as the Caribbean. If you read the history of Sir John Yeamans, you will discover he was one of the first Governors of the colonial Carolinas. He originally settled in Barbados.

In a book previously referenced in this blog, “Youmans Yeamans & Yeomans” by Grant Samuel Youmans, he seems to equate everyone with those surnames as being connected. My Aunt Ruth (Youmans) Gottschall also believed that everyone that spells their name the way we do are likely related. The fact is that the variation Youmans does not show up until the New World.

It appears that the family settled in Barbados and upstate New York, Pennsylvania area. New York was a Dutch colony originally and they would have pronounced Yeamans as Youmans. Further, at that time most people were illiterate and names tended to be written phonetically by whoever was doing the recording. Case in point. Walker Yeamans was born in Barbados and migrated north. He was the father of my fourth Great Grandfather, James Youmans. Walker Yeamans is often referenced as both Yeamans and Youmans. James only went by Youmans. That was one example of how the name evolved once in the New World.

Another example is of Christopher Yeamans, Yeomans, Youmans. He arrived in the New World, New York, and eventually settled in Connecticut. In England, he is referred to as Yeamans and Yeomans. I believe his father was Christopher Yeamans born in 1595. Many of his descendants seem to have become known as Yeomans’. He can be found under all three names. When searching for ancestors, the various different forms of the name complicates the research.

To sum up this post, it is rather certain the name Youmans derived from English roots with it meaning a freeholder or free land holder. This would have been the original middle class in England. It is also likely that our lands of origin are England and Scotland. Many of the English were Yeamans and many of the Scottish were Yeomans. I have not yet discovered a connection between the two. The name Youmans became prominent in the New World likely from Dutch influence.

If you have any additional or different information than this, I would love to hear about it. It is a fascinating old name and should be worn proudly.