This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and derives from "Addy", a pet form of the male given name Adam, and the suffix "-man", which was used as an occupation name for a servant, from the medieval use of the term to describe a person of inferior social status; hence, "servant of Adam". The given name "Adam", was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man, and took his name from the "red earth" of which God formed him, from the Hebrew "adama", earth. Adam occurs in the Domesday Book of 1086, but during the Middle Ages it was most prevalent in the North. The outlaw, Adam Bell, was a ballad hero of the North Country much resembling Robin Hood, and most surnames derived from the name seem to have originated above the Humber. "Adiman" (without surname) appears in the 1204 Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Adyman, Addyman, Addiman and Adiman. Recordings of the surname from Yorkshire Church Registers include: the christening of William, son of William Addyman, on October 16th 1643, at St. Michael Spurriergate; the christening of John, son of Thomas Adiman, at Aberford, on June 27th 1652; and the marriage of Thomas Addyman and Ann Walker on April 12th 1679, at Brodsworth. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Addeman, which was dated 1379, in the "Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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