Origin of the Name Harmon
The origin of the name
Harmon was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Harmon
include Hardiman, Hargadan, Harman and Hereman. This name in Irish is O'hArgadain and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from Sligo and Galway .
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
Hargadan is more usual in County Sligo with Hardiman found mostly in County Galway . In the sixteenth century 'fiants', which were ancient documents, the form O'Hardegan and O'Hargedan are recorded. The other variants Harman and Harmon are chiefly found in the eastern part of Leinster Province where another modern form, Hereman, is found. The place-name Harmanstown in the Barony of Upper Slane, County Meath is recorded in the Justiciary Rolls of that period.
The Harmon coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Harmon descendants.