Frequency: (2208)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. English: from the Middle English personal name Ailmar, Old English Æðelmǣr, composed of the elements æðel ‘noble’ + mǣr ‘famous’, which was reinforced after the Conquest by the introduction of Old French Ailmer, from a Continental cognate.
2. North German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements agi(l) ‘edge or tip (of a sword)’ + man ‘man’.
3. South German: topographic name for someone who lived by an elm tree, Middle High German elm(e).
4. Swiss German: habitational name from a village so named in Glarus canton.
FOREBEARS: Edward Elmer was one of the founders of Hartford, CT, (coming from Cambridge, MA, with Thomas Hooker) in 1635.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
