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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Scottish : according to Black, a habitational name from a place in Aberdeenshire named Kelman.
  • English : occupational name for a maker of caps or cauls, from Middle English kelle + man.
  • English : perhaps an occupational name for a bargeman, from Middle English kele ‘ship’, ‘barge’. Compare Keeler.
  • Americanized spelling of German Kellman.
  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : from the male personal name Kelman, a variant of Kalman.

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