Mortimer

Where Mortimer comes from

A habitational surname from Mortemer in France, from Old Northern French, literally meaning “dead pond”.
— Wiktionary's entry for Mortimer
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #526 among boys — 12 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1882
    Peak, #469
    15 babies named Mortimer — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1889
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  4. 1890
    Mortimer Wheeler born
    British archaeologist
  5. 1902
    Mortimer J. Adler born
    American philosopher, author and educator
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Mortimer J. Adler · American philosopher, author and educator, 1902–2001
  • Mortimer Wheeler · British archaeologist, 1890–1976
  • Mortimer Zuckerman · American businessman, born 1937
  • Mortimer Collins · British writer, 1827–1876
  • Mortimer von Kessel · German general, 1893–1981

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.