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Pilgrim Surname Meaning & Origin

What the Pilgrim last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.

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Meaning and origin of the Pilgrim last name

Meaning of the Pilgrim last name: someone who had made a pilgrimage. Pilgrim is a nickname surname for a person who had made a pilgrimage to a distant shrine, such as Rome, Santiago or Jerusalem. The last name is found in eastern and southern England and also in Germany, where Pilgrim has a separate personal-name origin.

Arms associated with the Pilgrim name

Sharing a surname establishes no coat of arms entitlement; heraldry follows documented individual lineages.

Get your full Pilgrim family history

This is only a glimpse of the Pilgrim story. The full Pilgrim history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Pilgrim coat of arms. Get the full Pilgrim report.

Pilgrim name FAQ

What does the Pilgrim name mean?

Someone who had made a pilgrimage.

Where does the Pilgrim surname come from?

It originates in England, and is also found in the United States and Canada.

Is there a Pilgrim coat of arms?

Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Pilgrim coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.

Sources: Elsdon C. Smith, Dictionary of American Family Names (1956), individual surname entries; modern indexed dictionary entries supersede conflicting interpretations.; Forebears, Surnam.es and individual surname distribution references.