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The palmer Surname

palmer Name Meaning and History

  1. English: from Middle English, Old French palmer, paumer (from palme, paume ‘palm tree’, Latin palma), a nickname for someone who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Such pilgrims generally brought back a palm branch as proof that they had actually made the journey, but there was a vigorous trade in false souvenirs, and the term also came to be applied to a cleric who sold indulgences.
  2. Swedish (Palmér): ornamental name formed with palm ‘palm tree’ + the suffix -ér, from Latin -erius ‘descendant of’.
  3. Irish: when not truly of English origin (see 1 above), a surname adopted by bearers of Gaelic Ó Maolfhoghmhair (see Milford) perhaps because they were from an ecclesiastical family.
  4. German: topographic name for someone living among pussy willows (see Palm 2).
  5. German: from the personal name Palm (see Palm 3).

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The palmer name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the palmer family name as far back in history as possible.

palmer Family Facts

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Distribution of palmer Families in the US in 1920
Number of palmer families
 1417-2832
 473-1416		 1-472
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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