Zimmerman (surname)

Zimmerman is a surname variant of the German Zimmermann, meaning "carpenter". The modern German terms for carpenter are Zimmerer, Tischler, or Schreiner, but Zimmermann is still used. It is also commonly associated with Ashkenazi Jews.

Zimmer in literal German means "room" or archaically a chamber within a structure; it is cognate with the English word "timber". The German mann means "man" or "worker". Combining the two German words, one gets "a worker of wood", or, literally translated, "room man" or "room worker".

Within the United States, it is ranked as the 441st-most common surname.

German names were regularly Anglicized with immigration. Surnames were often translated, so in this case, Zimmerman would become Carpenter. Later generations also altered their original family names frequently after being in the United States many years.


 * Simmerman: a variant of Zimmerman.
 * Timmerman: Dutch variant of Zimmerman.

Zimmerman may refer to:

People

 * Andrew Zimmerman (born 1968), American historian and academic
 * Anna-Maria Zimmermann (born 1988), German singer
 * Arnold Zimmerman (1954–2021), American ceramic artist
 * Arthur Augustus Zimmerman (1869–1936), American champion cyclist
 * Arthur Zimmermann (1864–1940), State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire
 * Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann, German geographer, zoologist and professor
 * Benjamin Zimmerman (1862–1923), member of the Jewish emigration from Russia
 * Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970), German composer
 * Carl Zimmerman (cricketer) (1898–1969), New Zealand cricketer
 * Carle C. Zimmerman (1897-1983), American sociologist
 * Charles A. Zimmermann (1861–1916), American bandmaster and composer
 * Charles H. Zimmerman (1908–1996), aeronautical engineer
 * Charles S. Zimmerman (1896–1983), American socialist activist and trade union official
 * Dean Zimmerman (philosopher), American philosopher, academic, and author
 * Dick Zimmerman (born 1937), American magician and pianist
 * Don Z. Zimmerman (1903-1983), American military officer
 * Elizabeth Zimmerman (born 1948), Filipina retired flight attendant and former wife of President Rodrigo Duterte
 * Elyn Zimmerman (born 1945), American sculptor
 * Eric Zimmerman (born 1969), American computer game designer
 * Eugene Zimmerman (1862–1935), American cartoonist
 * Eugene Zimmerman (industrialist) (1845–1914), American industrialist
 * Franklin B. Zimmerman (born 1923), American musicologist
 * Frederick Henry Zimmerman (1883-1968), American businessman and farmer
 * Frederick Hinde Zimmerman (1864–1924), American farmer and businessman
 * Fred R. Zimmerman (1880–1954), American politician
 * Gabe Zimmerman (1980-2011), Director of Community Outreach for Gabrielle Giffords
 * George J. Zimmermann (1882–1938), American mayor of Buffalo, New York
 * George Zimmerman (born 1983), shot and killed Trayvon Martin
 * George O. Zimmerman (1935–2019), Polish-American scientist and professor
 * Heinie Zimmerman (1887–1969), American baseball player
 * Herman F. Zimmerman (born 1935), art director and production designer
 * Howard Zimmerman (1926–2012), American professor of chemistry
 * Jacob Zimmerman (1831–1912), newspaper editor and owner, politician, and businessman
 * James Edward Zimmerman (1923–1999), American physicist
 * James Fulton Zimmerman (1847–1944) Historian, sociologist, president of New Mexico University
 * Jan Zimmerman, American government official, chair of the Missouri Gaming Commission
 * Jason Zimmerman (born 1989), professional game player under the pseudonym Mew2King
 * Jeff Zimmerman (American football) (born 1965), American football player
 * Jeff Zimmerman (born 1972), Canadian-born baseball pitcher
 * Jens Zimmermann (born 1981), German politician
 * Jeri Zimmerman, birth name of Jeri Ryan (born 1968), American actor
 * J. Fred Zimmerman Jr. (1871–1948), American theater manager and stage producer
 * J. Fred Zimmerman Sr. (1841–1925), American theater owner
 * Jill Zimmerman, computer scientist
 * Joel Zimmerman (born 1981), progressive house artist known as deadmau5
 * Jo Ann Zimmerman (1936–2019), American nurse and politician
 * John Zimmerman (politician), American politician
 * John Zimmerman (figure skater) (born 1973), American figure skater
 * Jonathan Zimmerman, American historian of education and Professor of History of Education
 * Jordan Zimmerman (born 1975), professional baseball pitcher
 * Joey Zimmerman (born 1986), American actor
 * Joshua Soule Zimmerman (1874–1962), American lawyer, politician, and orchardist
 * Kris Zimmerman, American voice actor and voice-over director
 * Leigh Zimmerman, American actress, singer and dancer
 * Leo Wrye Zimmerman (1924–2008), abstract artist
 * Mary Zimmerman, American dramatist
 * Matt Zimmerman (disambiguation), multiple people
 * Michael E. Zimmerman (born 1946), American philosopher, academic, and author
 * Michael Zimmerman (historian) (1951–2007), German chronicler
 * Michael Zimmerman (biologist) (born 1953), American biologist and professor
 * Michael Zimmerman (tennis) (born 1970), American tennis player
 * Nancy Zimmerman, American hedge fund manager
 * Oscar Zimmerman (1910–1987), American classical musician
 * Patric Zimmerman (born 1954), American voice actor
 * Paul Zimmerman (sportswriter) (1932–2018), American football sportswriter known as "Dr. Z"
 * Paul D. Zimmerman (1938–1993), American screenwriter, film critic and activist
 * Peter Zimmerman (1941–2021), American nuclear physicist and academic
 * Philip Zimmerman (born 1945), American iconographer
 * Phyllis Zimmerman (1934-2012) American composer, conductor and educator
 * Pia Zimmermann (born 1956), German politician
 * Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman (1785–1853), French pianist and composer
 * Preston Zimmerman (born 1988), American footballer for Hamburg SV II
 * Rachel Zimmerman (born ca 1973), Canadian-born space scientist and inventor
 * Robert Allen Zimmerman, birth name of Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer-songwriter
 * Robert C. Zimmerman (1910–1996), American politician
 * Robert D. Zimmerman (born 1952), American author of mysteries, psychological thrillers, and children's books
 * Roy Zimmerman (baseball) (1916–1991), baseball player
 * Roy Zimmerman (satirist) (born 1957), American singer/songwriter/guitarist
 * Ryan Zimmerman (born 1984), American baseball player
 * Sabine Zimmermann (born 1960), German politician
 * Samuel Zimmerman (1815–1857), Canadian railway entrepreneur
 * Shannon Zimmerman, American businessman and politician
 * Sheldon Zimmerman (born 1942), American Reform rabbi
 * Shraga Feivel Zimmerman, American rabbi
 * Steven Zimmerman, American organic chemist and professor
 * Thomas Zimmerman (1838–1914), German-American writer and translator
 * Trent Zimmerman (born 1968), Australian politician
 * Udo Zimmermann (1943–2021), German composer, musicologist, opera director and conductor
 * Urs Zimmermann (born 1959), Swiss road racing cyclist
 * Vernon K. Zimmerman (born 1928), American accounting scholar
 * William Carbys Zimmerman (1856–1932), American architect

Fictional characters
Florence Zimmerman, a character in "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" Eric Zimmerman, a character in the book "The House in which..."
 * Pvt. Fielding Zimmerman, character in The Phil Silvers Show.
 * Lewis Zimmerman, creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram in the Star Trek series
 * Dr. Zimmerman, former employee of "the Company" in the Heroes series
 * Jára Cimrman, a Czech character of a universal genius
 * Moritz Zimmerman, character in "How to sell drugs online (fast)" Netflix series

Places in the United States

 * Zimmerman, Minnesota, a city in Sherburne County
 * Zimmerman, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community in Somerset County
 * Zimmerman Kame, an archeological site in Ohio's Hardin County