This interesting name is of medieval English origin and is a nickname surname given to a trustworth man, possibly a servant or messenger. The derivation is from the Middle English 'trew(e), trow(e)', faithful, with 'man', man. In this instance the name is the patronymic form of the name, the 's' denoting the son of. Trueman, one of the variants of this name, was a popular medieval given name and some surnames may derive from this use. The surname from this source is first recorded in the early 13th Century. One William Trueman appears in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire. Other spellings of the name have included Trowman (1327) and Trewman (1621). In the modern idiom the name has four spelling variations: Trueman, Truman, Tro(w)man and Tromans. The name is widespread in West Midlands, especially in Staffordshire. Recorded in Staffordshire are the christenings of one James Tromans on March 10th 1713 and of Sarah Tromans on September 25th 1709, both at Rowley Regis. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Treweman, which was dated circa 1215, Records of the Priory of St. Gregory, Kent, during the reign of King John, known as 'Lackland', 1199-1216. 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.