Truman
Meaning of Truman
Truman, a sturdily hewn English surname-turned-given-name, springs from the Old English elements trēowe, “faithful,” and mann, “man,” a union that echoes the Roman ideal of vir fidelis and places veritas at the very heart of its meaning. Like a torch carried through the corridors of history, the name flared into national prominence with President Harry S. Truman, whose decisiveness at the twilight of World War II lent the appellation an aura of civic duty and resolute clarity. Literary lustre soon followed in the figure of Truman Capote, whose crystalline prose broadened the name’s cultural spectrum from the senate chamber to the salon. Though its statistical arc in the United States crested in the mid-twentieth century and then settled into gentler undulations, recent upticks hint at a quiet renaissance, as modern parents rediscover in Truman a cognomen that stands, firm as a Roman milestone, for reliability, straightforward speech, and a certain austere grace. In sum, Truman offers a child a banner of “true manhood” under which both integrity and intellect may confidently march.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as TROO-muhn (/ˈtru.mən/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
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Notable People Named Truman
| Truman Capote was an acclaimed American writer whose classic stories and novels helped pioneer New Journalism and inspired more than 20 films and TV productions. |
| Truman Heminway Aldrich was an American engineer and paleontologist who became the only Republican ever to represent Alabama's 9th congressional district. |
| Truman Gibson Jr was an African American attorney, businessman and boxing promoter who quietly advanced civil rights as a member of the Black Cabinet advising Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. |
| Truman Bradley was an actor and narrator who worked across radio, television and film. |
| Truman Head was a famed Civil War marksman known as California Joe who served in Colonel Hiram Berdan's 1st United States Sharpshooters. |
| Truman Smith was a Connecticut Whig who served in both houses of Congress and steered his party's national campaigns from 1846 to 1854. |
| Truman Smith Baxter served as the 16th mayor of Vancouver and was born on an Ontario farm to a family with United Empire Loyalist roots. |
| Truman Handy Newberry was an American businessman who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1908 to 1909 and later as a Republican senator from Michigan. |
| Truman Washington Dailey, a member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, was the last native speaker of his people's dialect of the Chiwere language. |
| Truman William Brophy was an American oral surgeon who founded the Chicago College of Dental Surgery and pioneered new techniques for repairing cleft lip and palate. |
| Truman Bewley is a Yale economist best known for his research on why wages rarely fall during recessions, which he traced largely to employers' concern for worker morale. |
| Truman J. Nelson was an American novelist, essayist, and civil rights activist whose work explored revolution and the fight against racism. |
| Truman N. Burrill was a U.S. Treasury official who led the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from 1883 to 1885. |
| Truman Franklin Wilbanks was an American educator and football coach who led the University of Louisiana at Lafayette team from 1931 to 1936. |
