Palomo
A Spanish surname from palomo, meaning “male dove” or “male pigeon.”
The #4,741 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,287 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Palomo is a Spanish word for a male dove or pigeon, and the surname most likely began as a nickname or descriptive name. The bird word goes back through Spanish to Latin palumbus, meaning a wood pigeon or dove. In surname use, it may have referred to someone associated with pigeons, or to a person seen as gentle, mild, or dove-like.
History
The name is established in Spanish-speaking regions and later spread through migration to the Americas. As with many Spanish surnames based on common nouns, it probably arose independently in more than one place. The same word also appears in Spanish place-names and everyday vocabulary, which could have reinforced surname formation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Spanish, palomo is specifically the masculine form of “dove” or “pigeon,” while paloma is the feminine form.
From the historical record
“mento que suele quedar en las camisas. Palomo. El macho de la paloma. Palos. Varas gruesas i largas de cualquiera madera. To- da clase de maderas. Pallares. Plural de pallar. Entresacar o escojer la parte”
— Diccionario de los apellidos