Pelham

Pelham is a name of English origin that is used as a surname, a given name, and as a toponym for several places in North America. Its use as a place name reflects historical settlement patterns, while the surname has been carried by various individuals across generations.

In North America, Pelham refers to multiple communities. Pelham, Alabama, is a city in Shelby County and a suburb of Birmingham. Pelham, New Hampshire, is a town in Rockingham County. Pelham, New York, is a village in Westchester County. In Canada, the Town of Pelham sits in the Niagara Region of Ontario. The name is also associated with Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, a large urban park named after the nearby Pelham Bay.

Notable people with the name Pelham include Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881–1975), an English author and humorist renowned for his Jeeves and Wooster and Blandings Castle series. Another is Pelham Warner (1873–1963), an English cricketer and cricket administrator. The Pelham name has historically appeared in various other realms, including politics, sports, and the arts, often reflecting family connections to English place-name origins.

In popular culture, The Taking of Pelham 123 is a well-known thriller originally released in 1974, about a subway hijacking; a 2009 remake of the film starred Denzel Washington. The title uses Pelham as a proper name tied to a specific subway car designation, illustrating how the name has entered broader cultural use.