Blum
A German surname meaning “flower” or “bloom,” often used as a nickname or ornamental name.
The #2,072 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,685 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Blum comes from German blume, meaning “flower” or “bloom.” The historical forms noted in older scholarship connect it with Middle High German bluome and Old High German words for a flower or blossom. As a surname, it likely began as a nickname or simply as a name adopted from a pleasant nature word.
History
This surname is especially common in German-speaking areas and also appears in related Dutch and Scandinavian forms such as Blom and Blume. In English-language surname books, it is treated as a Continental German name rather than an English native surname. Related compound surnames such as Blumberg and Blumenfeld show how the element Blum was used in longer German family names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries often group Blum with a whole family of flower-based surnames, including Blume, Blom, and Blumenfeld.
From the historical record
“/ earlier -el, and -et] BLUM (Ger.) Bloom, Flower [Ger. blume, M.H.Ger. bluome, O.H.Ger. SZuoma] BLUMBERG (Ger.) Flower-Hill [see Blum and Berg] BLUMENFELD (Ger.) Flower-Field [Ger. , blumen, pi. ol blume (see Blum) +feld, O.H.Ger. feld, a field]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Blum
- Léon Blum (1872–1950)
- Dianne Feinstein (1933–2023)
- Tanya Roberts (1949–2021)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.