Pilgrims never called themselves Pilgrims, what were they?

The people commonly called the Pilgrims were Separatists. They belonged to English Protestant congregations that believed true Christian worship required separating from the established Church of England.

Many of these Separatists left England because of religious persecution and settled in Leiden, in the Netherlands. In 1620, a group traveled aboard the Mayflower and established Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts. Their leaders and community were later widely remembered as the “Pilgrim Fathers.”

The term Pilgrim was not the group’s usual self-description during the Mayflower period. It became popular later, drawing on the religious idea of a traveler journeying toward a spiritual destination. Separatist is therefore the historically precise label for their religious movement.

They are often confused with Puritans. Both groups wanted changes to English Christianity, but Puritans generally hoped to reform the Church of England from within. Separatists believed congregations should break away from it entirely. The Mayflower passengers also included non-Separatist settlers, commonly called “Strangers.”