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Some historians have guessed that the surname Peterman originated in the Palatinate (Bavaria in Southern Germany) during the Middle Ages. There could be multiple origins with multiple meanings. Peter the apostle, reference to a fisherman and reference to a rock are the three most frequent explanations of the name's meaning when searching Peterman online.
Ship's passenger records (sailing from European mainland ports to England, Ireland, and European imperial colonies) from 1688 to the middle 1800's helped to track a majority of Peterman immigrants back to the Palatinate.
Starting in 1688, King Louis the 14'th of France destroyed many Palatinate churches (mainly Lutheran) along with their birth, marriage, and death records.
The Palatinate was always a border region, and therefore was constantly being controlled by different entities. The Celts, Romans, German tribes, later European kingdoms, the Catholic church and Lutheran church all had control of different regions at different times. Historical records are few for the region.
From the early 1600's to the early 1700's, at least 1/3 of the German population was lost due to constant wars, famine and disease. The Palatinate was one of the hardest hit areas. There was also a campaign by King Louis 14th of France against the Lutheran's, many of which were "persuaded" to leave home.
Tracking the Peterman name throughout these times is difficult. Many different Peterman family trees which can be accessed online are obviously tracking the same family, but once they track their relatives to the Palatinate, the information varies.
Currently I have 5 different possibilities as to who fathered my fore father named George Peterman (Peyterrmann) who immigrated to Delaware in the mid 1700's. It's a confusing mess.
BTW, my Y-DNA is R-M198. Waiting for the big Y to be finished. Are there any Peterman's from Bavaria or who have ancestors from there with the same match? I may have had an unfaithful maternal ancestor. So far Morzheim is the village I think my family came from. Good luck searching and PLEASE ADD ANY VIABLE INFORMATION IF YOU COME ACROSS IT.