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German name Palm?
I may (it's a little unclear at the moment) have a German ancestor, whose first name was Palm. He must have been born in around 1600, and lived in Rostock. I thought it was Paul at first, but no, it definitely says Palm. I found a few others on FamilySearch.org, so it seems to be a "real" name. Does anyone know anything about it?

This message was edited 4/25/2013, 1:03 PM

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PALM is indeed an historic given name. Seibicke lists it in his Historisches Deutsches Vornamenbuch:Palm m, histor. Namensform, KF von Palmatius; Var.: Palmus> Palmatius [-matsius] m, lat. ‘Palmenträger’ (als Siegeszeichen des Märtyrertums); KF: Palm "Short form of Palmatius, palm bearer (as a sign of victory of martyrdom)"And these are the Palms he found:Bel.: Palme Smed 1438 Bg. zu Aken, Palmen Rorbarch 1479 Magdeburg, Palmen tom slage 1482 Bg. ebda., Palmen Michel 1487 Bg. zu Calbe, Palme Wulff 1510 Staßfurt, Palm van Meyborch 1547 Söldner in Peine, Peter P. Mumme (Palmumme) 1550 Bg. zu Magdeburg, P. Schulte 1564 Schweskau/Kr. Lüchow, P. Albrecht 1635 Bg. zu Güsen, P. Krüger 1792 Stendal u. v. a. m., ZODER II, 272f.; einmal Wismar 17. Jh., CRULL 1; Westprignitz 1600-1740, SP 1983, 188 (GRÜNEBERG); P. Schulte 1633 Leinenweber in Schwerin, AfS 1928, 408; 12mal Prignitz 1686/87, W. VOGEL; im 19. Jh. in der Magdeburger Börde, SCHÖNFELD 1985, 26
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Could it be related to, or even a misspelling of, the old Danish name Palni? http://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Palni
Edit: I'm not sure how reliable that site is, though.

This message was edited 4/25/2013, 2:44 PM

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According to my sources, Palm is a shortening of the name Palmatius, borne by an early christian saint.nordicnames.de is an excellent and very reliable site, they give sources to all their claims.
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