Palmer

Where Palmer comes from

From Middle English palmer (“a pilgrim from the Holy Land”), from Old French.
— Wiktionary's entry for Palmer
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1840
    Palmer Cox born
    Canadian illustrator and author
  2. 1908
    First appearance
    #1,676 among girls, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1992
    Palmer Luckey born
    American founder of Oculus VR and inventor of the Oculus Rift
  4. 2012
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 2025
    Peak, #232
    1,330 babies named Palmer — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name.
Namesakes
  • Palmer Luckey · American founder of Oculus VR and inventor of the Oculus Rift, born 1992
  • Palmer Cox · Canadian illustrator and author, 1840–1924
  • Palmer Hayden · American artist, 1890–1973
  • Palmer DePaulis · American politician, born 1945
  • Palmer Hildebrand · Major League Baseball catcher, 1884–1960

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.