# Waterman (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/waterman/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An occupational surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 12,177 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,947 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 25,355 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (11,799 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the occupation of waterman, from water + man.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Waterman in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 86% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 7.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Waterman in the United States.

## People named Waterman

- Lewis Waterman, American inventor (1837–1901)
- Willard Waterman, American actor (1914-1995)
- Michael Waterman, American scientist and professor at the University of Southern California
- Charles W. Waterman, American politician (1861-1932)
- Ida Waterman, American actress (1852-1941)

## Similar surnames

Weatherman, Woodring, Woodrum, Wetherington, Whitehorn, Wotring, Witherington.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.