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.
