My main association is General
Sherman (the Civil War, the Indian Wars). It's not a good association or even a neutral one like
Grant; people argue about it being exaggerated (that he was a relatively moderate person), but regardless, he's popularly known for attacking civilians and wiping out buffalo - not something that'd inspire me to name a kid in honor of in the modern day. It probably doesn't help that it sounds even more old-fashioned than
Herman.
My only other association is
Sherman Alexie. He's a Native American author from Spokane. I didn't think of the general when I heard of him. I guess in a real life context, it comes across to me as unpretentious (in a way that could be neutral/positive) sort of like
Earl or
Norman because it's so unfashionable.
Eta: I never saw Peabody and
Sherman.
This message was edited 4/10/2024, 8:49 AM