Rimmer
An English surname that originally meant “rhymer” — a poet, singer, or minstrel.
The #9,491 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,118 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rimmer is an occupational surname from Middle English forms such as rymour and rimmer, meaning a rhymer or poet-singer. These forms were influenced by Old French rime / rimeur, ultimately tied to the idea of rhyme or verse, and possibly also by Latin rhythmus. In some older scholarship, a Germanic source is also mentioned, but the poetic/versifier sense is the main and best-attested explanation.
History
The surname is well recorded in medieval England and appears in 13th-century records as le Rymeur. Later evidence shows it strongly in southwest Lancashire, especially around places like Walton, Formby, and North Meols, where spelling as Rymer and Rimmer both occur. The modern Rimmer form seems to have become especially established in that Lancashire cluster.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century local historians noted how concentrated Rimmer was in parts of southwest Lancashire, where it appeared to have spread especially strongly.
From the historical record
“RIMER 1(A.-Fr.) Poet, Minstrel [M.E. RIMMER J rywer, rymour, rymeur, rimour; f. M.E. O.Fr. rime, rime, metre; either from Lat. rhythm-US, rhythm, or O.H.Ger. rim, number] Roger le Rymeur. — iMnc. Assize-Rolls, A.D. 1246. "Thomas the Rymour [Thomas of”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)