The name Carman (also spelled Karman) is reported to be on the "Doomsday book" :

"... holding lands in the time of King Edward the Confessor" (A.D. 1041-1064), we find a John Seaman and a John Karman (also as Carman), living in the county of Surrey, in adjoining hundreds, and where the respective families were "possessed of domains, manors, and others of the forms of properties of that time" (viz., 1042), and with this year the authentic records and tracings of these families begin. There is no mention of either name in the Domesday records of any of the other counties embraced therein.

Both names, however, appear in much earlier periods in the annals of Britain. Carman is in the genealogies of the Bishops of Mercia, 670-796; and is mentioned by Bede, the first historian of England. It is also found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and charters and in the time of Alfred the Great, 871-901. Seman (Seaman) also appears in these early records, and according to the Chartae Anglo-Saxonica, "Chartae Anglo-Saxonica-Code Diplomatica Avi Saxonicim," etc., etc., by I.K. Kemble; 6 vols., 1839-48, there was an Anglo-Saxon or Norse sea chief of great power and wide fame of this name, and in a letter from Mr. Owen Seaman, the present brilliant editor of London Puck, he says "the tradition is that the Seamans are of Norse origin."

These data bring both names very near to the beginnings of Saxon rule in England in the fifth century, and also indicate that both families must have been of the leading and influential families for some time prior to 1042, as also in 1085-86, the years in which the Domesday Book census was taken, by order of William the Conqueror." -  (American Families of Historic Lineage, Long Island Edition, National Americana Society, NY, undated)
 

For this to be all true, we have to believe a very early arrival in the British Islands, preceding the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066 and the Normans. Although the Coat of Arms researched for the family by 19th century Carman researchers contain elements of possible knighthood, or position, and an affinity to France, William the Conqueror having arrived from Normandy, France (see Norman origins above).  So the early Carmans appear to have preceded the Normans rather than arrive with them.

That John Carman had a surname in itself is of note. It was not a common thing in early years and suggests again a person of some notice. The normal in that time period was a given name and the suffix was the town you were from - such as "John of Surrey". The Carman family also seems to be associated with the Seaman family in early history  as well as later in their arrival in North America in the 17th century.  The origin of that name and possibly Carman as well, is generally considered to be of a Norse origin.

The terror of the Europe during the 10th Century were the Vikings. They were marauding from England throughout France and Spain and the Mediterranean at will in there time. And even the Anglo-Saxons have a Viking heritage as do the Normans - To appease the Vikings and stop the attacks on Paris in 886 the King of France gives a section of the Country to them - this section of his Country was, and still is, known as Normandy and the "Northmen" become "Normans"  (they also convert to Christianity here as they adopt to their new home).  It is from Normandy and of Viking heritage that William the Conqueror arises and in 1066  crosses the English Channel and conquers England. One of the first things William does in England is to establish Castles and smaller fortified "homes" which served as armories to assure his authority throughout England.  This is what is suggested in the coat of arms - that John Carman was a keeper of a castle, or more likely a lesser fortification.  Probably not a big enough Knight to warrant a "Sir" in front of his name, but important enough to be listed as a Knight. That there are the French "scallops" in one version of the coat of arms and in the other a motto in French - both suggest a Norman origin.  And the majority of Knights of the First Crusade (year 1095, which succeeded in  taking Jerusalem) were of French culture  and language, and attracted no Kings or high nobles, rather it was fought by Barons and their followers.  The later fits John's likely description but we are thrown back to the Norman connection, which we should not be.

Norman origins

So for or all this to be true John Carman would have been a very early arrival to the collective "British Islands", and somehow having allied himself with William the Conqueror when he took control of England around in 1066AD.  Perhaps because their having a common ancestry of Norse forefathers (?), just getting there from a different route.  As we have quoted above  "... Carman is in the genealogies of the Bishops of Mercia, 670-796). St Chad was the first Bishop of Mercia, chosen by king Oswi of Northumberland as Bishop of Northumberland.  Note on the map below the Norse settlements west of and including Northumbria.  This colony also includes the north shore of Wales and we do have a family line that claims origins as Welsh.  Northumberland, then Northumbria,  was and still is a part of England or Great Britain, so we still have our English origins. (Strathclyde to the north is present day Scotland (founded by the Irish), Ireland itself is joust off the edge of the map to the west of the Island of Man).

Image by Matthew White. Please do not reproduce without permission of the author (mwhite28@richmond.infi.net)

The Celts have even earlier and more mysterious origins in Europe, settled in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago and possibly back to the "Iron Age", Celts later founded Wales and Scotland - Scotland translated from the Roman Empire's name for the area meaning literally "Land of the Irish".  In Celtic mythology there is a a lesser "goddess" named Carman who was the goddess of evil magic, having three sons named Dub ("darkness"), Dother ("evil") and Dian ("violence") that rampaged Ireland. Could the origin of this "terror goddess" have been the arriving Norse Carmans?  The Vikings are known to have been feared by one and all that confronted them, often arriving by surprise by ship.  Ireland is an Island just off the edge of the map above west of the Norse colonies.  Many believe that the origins of Celtic folklore is based on actual historical events.

Ptolemy, of Greek mathematician wrote in 150AD of five Islands lying between Scotland and Ireland (note on the map above this area is designated as 10th century Norse settlements) . On them was built a new kind of structure - a "broch", or fortified structure. It was an immense single round stone tower. They were usually built on hills and were thought to have been watch towers to warn settlements of marauding raiders arriving by sea.  Is this the origin of the "Tower" on the Carman coat-of-arms? (ironically this would make the early raiders the defenders against other raiders).  As it turns out there is a site in Scotland, near Helenburgh on the Clyde River south of Glasgow named "Carman Hill". Was this a "broch" tower location at one time?  And is it only coincidence that the Celtic mythical Goddess "Carman" had three sons, "darkness", "evil" and "violence", the same number as 'towers' on the early Carman coat-of-arms.  Makes a good metaphor for something you want to avoid and warn people off from, doesn't it?

There are Carmans that claim to be Welsh. There are Carmans who claim they are Irish. And for sure there are the English families and possibly even more than one as there appears to be a northern English group and a southern.  In then end the answer is we don't know the actual origins. That they are there back to at least the 10th century is pretty much proven.  Earlier origins than that can only be speculated about.