Palmer

PAH-mer; PAHL-mer

English

"pilgrim; one who holds a palm"

Palmer Origin and Meaning

The name Palmer is a boy's name of English origin meaning "pilgrim; one who holds a palm".

Palmer is a name that derives from the fact that pilgrims often carried palms, thus the double meaning. It's a fresher sounding twist other surname style names, such as Spencer, Carter, Porter and Parker.

Despite its long history as a boy's name, Palmer has recently been more successful on the US girls' charts, where it is solidly within the Top 300. Nevertheless, Palmer did make an appearance on the US Top 1000 names for boys in 2023, solidifying it as a potential choice for any gender.

Palmer Rank in US Top 1000

# 942 in the US

Palmer Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1241 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Palmer

• 942 US 2023
• 1241 Nameberry 2025
• 76 Unique 2024
• 45 Unisex 2024
• 550 Future 2028

20 Names Similar to Palmer

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Palmer.

• Jones
• Smith
• Burke
• Clarke
• Van
• Chet
• Judd
• Bates
• Conway
• Hawkins
• Campbell
• Watson
• Auggie
• Turner
• Jennings
• Wiley
• Baxter
• Mills
• Kip
• Barnett

Famous People Named Palmer

• Palmer Edvind Lee birth name of Gregg Palmer, American actor
• Palmer Cox Canadian illustrator and author
• Palmer Eddy Pierce U.S. WWI general
• H. Palmer Hall American poet
• Palmer C. Hayden American painter
• Palmer Freeman Luckey American founder of Oculus VR
• Palmer Cosslett Putnam American wind,power engineer
• (William) Palmer Pyle American NFL player
• Grady Palmer Wright (b. 2020) son of American soccer player Arin Gilliland Wright

The name Palmer in Pop Culture

• Palmer Joss character in film "Contact"
• Palmer Cortlandt character on American TV soap "All My Children"
• Palmer character in "The Thing" series