Rumsey
A habitational surname meaning “from Romsey,” the Hampshire town once spelled Rumsey or Romsey.
The #6,497 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,079 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rumsey is generally explained as a habitational name from Romsey in Hampshire, England. The place appears in early records with spellings such as Romesy, Romesey, Rumesig, and Rumsey, and the surname simply identifies someone who came from there. The place-name itself is usually taken from Old English elements, though older writers debated the exact first element and did not always agree on the details.
History
The surname was already in use by the later medieval period, and the excerpts show it in English records from the 16th century onward. Historical surname dictionaries consistently treat Rumsey as a spelling variant of Romsey, which helps explain why both forms occur as surnames. It is found in England and later in the United States, where it survives as a fairly uncommon but established name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical source notes that the same place-name appears with both Romsey and Rumsey spellings in medieval records, so the surname preserves an old local spelling tradition.
From the historical record
“Ordbog ' (Christiania) is stump'] RUMSEY, V. Romsey. RUNACRES (Scand.) Dweller at i the Bush- Fields [O.N-. runn-r, a bush, shrub -|- akr (= O.E. eecer), a field (with late (Eng.) pi. -s] 2 the Rowan-Tree Fields [Dan.- Norw. ronne = Swed. ronn (earlier runn), O.N. reyni-r, the rowan-tree]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)