A follow to Friday’s question about Batemen. This name may have two significations, “Baitman,” a keeper of a house of entertainment, and “Bateman,” a contentious man, from bate, Saxon, strife, to beat, contention.
In addition, we should note that the name is linked to a first bearer who worked as a boatman (this is interesting for those of you who know who Charon is) and is derived from the English term “bat” (which means boat—not the flying mammal). Oddly, the word “Bate” usually turns up in the surname of Bater where Anglo-Saxon naming conventions are concerned.
As far as religious affiliation it could be either Christian or Jewish (or it is possible a bearer of the name could be something else). In the case of this Mr. Bateman, he is most likely Caucasian (though England itself has a sizable non-Caucasian population), English expatriate, who plans to open a "chain of funeral homes across the country, and is Christian (as is the community he serves). (note that he is not an Afrikaner. Afrikaners are white Afrikaans-speaking people who have been established in Southern Africa since the 17th century and are mainly of northwestern European descent (mostly Dutch, German and French ancestry). Afrikaner is a noun, Afrikaans the adjective (i.e., an Afrikaans person or an Afrikaner). Here is a picture of Charon, the ferryman of Hades (the Greek underworld--here is the correct pronunciation):
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