Find out how popular the last name Bumpus is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bumpus.

Bumpus, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bumpus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bumpus in America

Bumpus is the 10806th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bumpus surname appeared 2,949 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Bumpus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bumpus to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bumpus

The surname Bumpus is believed to have originated in England during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "bun" meaning "a swelling or lump" and "puis" meaning "a small creek or stream," potentially referring to a person who lived near a small, swollen stream or a person with a physical characteristic resembling a swelling.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bumpus can be found in the Huntingdonshire Subsidy Rolls of 1327, where a certain Robert Bumpus is listed as a taxpayer. This suggests that the name was already established in that region by the early 14th century.

In the 16th century, the name appears in various parish records and court documents across different counties in England, including Essex, Wiltshire, and Suffolk. Notable examples include John Bumpus, who was born in Wiltshire in 1542, and William Bumpus, who was recorded as a landowner in the village of Bradfield, Essex, in 1598.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bumpus family continued to spread across England, with branches emerging in counties such as Somerset, Devon, and Gloucestershire. One notable individual from this period was Thomas Bumpus, a wealthy merchant and landowner born in Somerset in 1675.

As the British Empire expanded, some members of the Bumpus family emigrated to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name is that of John Bumpus, who was born in Virginia in 1687.

Other notable individuals with the surname Bumpus include:

1. Edward Bumpus (1798-1859), an English bookseller and founder of the Bumpus bookshop in London.
2. James Bumpus (1812-1887), an English lawyer and judge who served as a Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench.
3. Frederick Bumpus (1837-1901), an English naturalist and zoologist known for his work on the anatomy and behavior of birds.
4. Henry Croswell Bumpus (1854-1926), an American biologist and educator who served as the president of Tufts University.
5. Hermon Carey Bumpus (1862-1943), an American zoologist and educator who served as the director of the American Museum of Natural History.

While the Bumpus surname has its roots in England, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with families bearing this name found in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bumpus

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bumpus.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bumpus was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bumpus has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bumpus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bumpus, please contact us.

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