Blume
A German surname from the word for “flower” or “bloom.”
The #5,914 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,994 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Blume comes from German blume, meaning “flower” or “blossom,” ultimately from Old High German bluoma / pluoma. The surname was often used as a nickname or inherited family name from the common noun, and in some Germanic naming traditions it could also be linked to the idea of something bright, fresh, or flourishing. Related forms in older sources include Blum and Bluhm, with many regional spelling variants.
History
The name is well attested in German-speaking areas and appears in several spelling families, especially Blum, Bluhm, and Blume. Nineteenth-century surname dictionaries commonly grouped it with other flower-based names and treated it as a German word-name rather than an occupational surname in the strict sense. It also spread into other countries through German migration, which is why it is found in the United States today.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname studies connect the underlying word to ideas of youth and vigor, not just the literal flower.
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]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)