Parmalee

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, carried by many people with ancestry in England and the United States
2. An English-derived surname borne by various individuals, especially in North America
3. A surname of English origin used as a family name by numerous people, particularly in the United States

Etymology: Parmalee is best understood as a surname, not a common noun, and its origin is not firmly established. The name is most often traced to French or Anglo-Norman roots, but no derivation is documented well enough to present as settled. What is better recorded is its American history: members of the family settled in the Guilford area of the Connecticut colony in the 1640s, and their descendants spread across New England and later the wider United States. Many bearers today carry the spelling "Parmelee," and the two forms are used interchangeably for the same family line. Because the name is a family name, its meaning was never fixed by a dictionary-style sense. Its history lies in records of particular people, which is why the surest facts are about settlement and descent rather than word-formation.