Explore the Family Name Plum
The meaning of Plum
1. English and North German: from Middle English plum(b)e, Middle Low German plum(e) ‘plum’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a plum tree, or a metonymic occupational name for a fruit grower, or possibly a nickname, for example for someone with a plum-colored birthmark. 2. English: nickname from Middle English plum(me), plumb(e), plom(be) ‘lead, lead weight’ (Anglo-Norman French plum(be), plo(u)m; Old French plomé; Latin plumbum), probably signifying one who worked or dealt in lead, a plumber. 3. English: variant of Plume. 4. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Blum. 5. Americanized form of German Pflum ‘plum’, a cognate of 1 above.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Plum in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Plum shifted slightly between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Plum was the 10,751st most common surname in the U.S., but by 2010 it had slipped to the 11,362nd spot, marking a decrease of approximately 5.68%. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of people with the surname increased by almost 2% over the same period, from 2,724 individuals in 2000 to 2,777 in 2010. However, the proportion per 100k people lowered by around 7%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,751 | #11,362 | -5.68% |
| Count | 2,724 | 2,777 | 1.95% |
| Proportion per 100k | 1.01 | 0.94 | -6.93% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Plum
On the topic of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates some interesting shifts. The percentage of individuals with the surname Plum who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander saw an increase of about 16%, moving from 0.81% in 2000 to 0.94% in 2010. There was also substantial growth in those identifying with two or more races, which soared from 0.92% to 1.58%, marking an impressive 71.74% change. Meanwhile, the majority of those carrying the Plum surname continued to identify as White, although the percentage decreased slightly from 93.76% to 93.23%. The proportions of Hispanics, Blacks, and American Indian and Alaskan Natives with the surname Plum all experienced small decreases over this decade.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 93.76% | 93.23% | -0.57% |
| Black | 2.31% | 2.12% | -8.23% |
| Hispanic | 1.73% | 1.66% | -4.05% |
| Two or More Races | 0.92% | 1.58% | 71.74% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.81% | 0.94% | 16.05% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.48% | 0.47% | -2.08% |