Mum

Recorded in several forms including Mum, Mumm, and Mumme, as well as compunds such as Mumbrauer and Mummler, this is a surname of Germanic origins. It seems to have two meanings. In Germany itself it was a nickname or perhaps a theatrical name for a 'mummer'. This was an actor who took part in the masked folk plays of the medieval times. The derivation and origination however would seem to be from an early French word 'momeur', although curiously in France itself the meaning at least as a surname, appears to be or to have been, that of a brewer! As one of the most famous champagnes is that of Mumm, perhaps the true meaning was more related to the production of alcohol, rather than just beer. Occupational names were amongst the earliest to be created, but usually they did not become hereditary until or if, a son followed his father into the same line of business. The surname is very early with the first known surviving recording being that of Niklaus Mumme of Hamburg in the charters of that city in the year 1290, whilst Hans Hagen Mumm is recorded in Riedlingen in 1437.