Potman Family History

From the Middle English given name Poteman, a pet form of Philipot (a diminutive of Philip) with the hypocoristic suffix -man. See Pott, Potkin, and Philpott, and compare Richard Potemay (‘kinsman of Pot’) 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Exceat in Westdean, Sussex).

Potman was introduced after the Norman Conquest, probably by Flemings who used -man as a hypocoristic suffix. Compare Bateman, Hickman, Human, and Pateman.

For a potter from Middle English pot, potte (see Pott) + man, synonymous with Potter. Stephen Poteman 1296-1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Brede, Sussex) could be the same man as Stephen Potter taxed in the same place in the 1332 subsidy along with Alan Poteman, but the forename Stephen is common and may belong to a different man.

Perhaps for someone who lived by a hole or pit from Middle English pot, potte (see Pott) + man. The surnames atte Potte and Poteman occur in E Sussex villages in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, but evidence to prove their synonymity is lacking.