Explore the Family Name Baltimore

The meaning of Baltimore

1. English: apparently from the title of the English Barons Baltimore, borne by members of the Calvert family, who were Lords Proprietors of the colony of Maryland in the 17th century. The title is based on the name of their estate in County Longford, Ireland. As a surname, Baltimore seems to have originated in America (appearing in VA in the 1660s). There is, however, no record of any Calvert descendants having assumed the title as a surname. The surname is found mainly among African Americans (see also 2 below). 2. Jewish (American) and African American: adoption of the surname in 1 above, or perhaps of the name of the city in Maryland as a surname. The city was established in 1729 (the port already in 1706) and named after Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore (see 1 above), who was the first Lord Proprietor of the colony of Maryland in the 17th century. History: Famous Jewish bearer of the surname Baltimore is the American biologist David Baltimore (born 1938 in New York City), a Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine (1975).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.