Meaning & Story
Palmer is an English occupational surname for a pilgrim who carried a palm branch after visiting the Holy Land, from the Latin palma. It has a wandering, spiritual quality and a certain pilgrim spirit.
Palmer has an unexpectedly soulful quality for a surname-name — it carries the weight of pilgrimage, of someone who has traveled far in pursuit of something meaningful and returned changed by the journey. There's a calm purpose in Palmer that suits a thoughtful, steady dog with searching eyes. It also sounds wonderfully like the kind of name a golden retriever might have on a premium dog food package, which gives it an additional layer of approachable charm.