The Countryman surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,144 people carried this name — #7,977 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 71,400 people counted. That is up 1% from 4,097 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Countryman surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a nickname: ‘the countryman’.

An early record he cites: John Contreman, Cambridgeshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 209 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

22 families named Countryman, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 129 people lived in those households, 5.9 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 4 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

New York 13
Pennsylvania 6
South Carolina 2
Virginia 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 235 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Countryman in American newspapers,
1913.

Newspaper page from Saturday News carrying the name Countryman
Saturday News 1913-05-08

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Countryman in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1950s.

517 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Countryman. The most, 133, date from the 1950s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Queensland, at 2.0 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 200
New South Wales 141
Victoria 79
South Australia 54
Western Australia 23
Tasmania 18
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Countryman.

Who carried it

People named Countryman,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Gratia Countryman
    Gratia Countryman 1866–1953 · librarian
  • Dayton Countryman
    Dayton Countryman 1918–2011 · lawyer
  • Wellington Countryman 1909–1997
  • William D. Countryman 1920–2005 · botanical collector
  • John R. Countryman 1933–2024 · diplomat
  • Peter J. Countryman 1942–1992

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Countryman,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States345 records

345 records of the Countryman name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 139
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 120
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 56
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 17
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 13
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Robert L. Countryman

    Born 1924 in Iowa. Enlisted 1943 at Camp Dodge Herrold; farm hand from Cedar County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1999, buried at Masonic Cemetery, Tipton, Iowa.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record David W. Countryman

    U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Born 1954, died 1999; buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Brainerd, Minnesota.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. The receipt card sent under the U.S. Alien Registration Act of 1940
    Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s
    Alien registration Elizabeth Countryman

    Born 1868 in Canada. Registered as a foreign national in St Lawrence County, New York, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.

    U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)

Showing 3 of 345 records for Countryman in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Canada3 records

3 records of the Countryman name in Canada
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 1
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Dorothy Joan Countryman

    Buried in 1986 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 57.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Clifford Countryman

    Died 1916; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Lloyd Gordon Countryman

    Died in service in 1952.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Australia2 records

2 records of the Countryman name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 1
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record William Countryman

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lord William Bentinck, sailing from Portsmouth in 1838. Native of Cork.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Willis Countryman

    Arrived in Victoria in 1897 aboard the Cuzco, aged 22.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Countryman.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Countryman is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Countryman volume
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