The Bruggeman DNA Genealogy project was started in May of 2005 when it became apparent that many Bruggemans, Brugmans, Brughmans, Bruggemanns, Brüchmans, Broekmans, etc. all likely have a common ancestor. This common ancestor was probably a Viking from Sweden who settled somewhere in the border area between The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium more than 1,000 years ago.

Surprisingly, the name Brug(ge)man probably has nothing to do with bridges. The name likely derives from the name "Broekman" or "Brüchman."

In old Dutch, wetlands were called "bruecklant," which evolved into "broecklant" and subsequently into "broekland."

In old German the same piece of wetland was called "brôchlant" or "brôichlant" which evolved into "broich" and subsequently into "Brüch."

Those farmers who lived on what were essentially sandhills in the old Dutch or German wetlands were likely called Brüchman or Broekman, which evolved into Brug(ge)man(n), Brüchman, Broekman etc.

The source of the name history information is:
http://www.brugman.biz/family/webeng/index.htm
For those who are interested in further information about the history of the name, or wish to read about it in Dutch or German, this unrelated website is worth a look.