Elmer - Meaning of Elmer

What does Elmer mean?

Pronounce
Elmer

[ 2 syll. el-mer, elm-er ] The baby boy name Elmer is pronounced as EHLMehR †. Elmer is used predominantly in the English and Scandinavian languages, and it is derived from Old English origins. The name's meaning is nobly famous. Aethelmaer (Old English), Ethelmer (Old English), and Ethelward (Old English) are old forms of Elmer. The first name is derived from the surname, which is itself from the Old English first name Aethelmaer, from 'aethel' (meaning noble, honorable) and 'maer' (great, famous). Elmer has been adopted as a given name from the 19th century; in the USA, it was first bestowed in tribute to the brothers and early politicians Jonathan Elmer (1745-1817) and Ebenezer Elmer (1752-1843). The name is also borne by the titular character of Sinclair Lewis' novel Elmer Gantry (1927), and by Elmer Fudd (1940-) the famous cartoon nemesis of Bugs Bunny who speaks with a slur. The name Elma (German, Italian, and English) is the female version of Elmer.

Elmer has 20 variants that are used in English and other languages. Variants used in English include Aylmar, Aylmer, Aymer, Ellmer, Ellmir, Ellmor, Ellmur, Ellmyr, Elmir, Elmor, Elmur, Elmyr, and Ulmer. The contraction Elm, and the diminutive form Elmy are other English variants.

Foreign variants of Elmer include Elemér (Hungarian), Ellmar (German and Scandinavian), Elmar (German and Scandinavian), Elmo (Italian), and Jelmer (Frisian).

See also the related forms, Adelmar (German) and Delmar (English).

See also the related categories, english, noble (honorable), brothers, tribute (honor), cartoon, and scandinavian.

Elmer is a rare baby name for boys. At the modest peak of its usage in 1901, 0.450% of baby boys were given the name Elmer. It ranked at #38 then. The baby name has since steeply declined in popularity, and is currently of irregular use. Out of all boy names in its group, Elmer was nonetheless the most commonly used in 2018. The name Elmer has been mostly given to baby boys, though it has also been used as a girl name in the past century. In 1928, the name Elmer was given to 47 times as many baby boys than girls.

Baby names that sound like Elmer include Ellmar, Ellmoor, Ellmor, Ellmore, Ellmyr, Elmar, Elmir, Elmoor, Elmoore, Elmor, Elmore, Elmur, Elmyr, Ailemar, Aillmer, Ailmer, Alemar, Alemarr, Ayllmer, and Aylmar.

† Pronunciation for Elmer: EH as in "ebb (EH.B)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; R as in "race (R.EY.S)"

Details of famous persons named Elmer:
Politician Ebenezer Elmer, born August 23, 1752 - October 18, 1843, Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Politician Jonathan Elmer, born 29 November 1745 - 3 September 1817, Cedarville, New Jersey.