Palmer

Girl name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• 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.
• Swedish (Palmér) : ornamental name formed with palm ‘palm tree’ + the suffix -ér, from Latin -erius ‘descendant of’.
• 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.
• German : topographic name for someone living among pussy willows (see Palm 2).
• German : from the personal name Palm (see Palm 3).