Crump
An old nickname surname for someone bent, crooked, or awkward in build or gait.
The #1,727 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 14,889 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is generally taken from an old word meaning “crooked” or “bent,” with forms such as Old English and Middle English crump/crumpt. Early writers also linked it with related Germanic and Celtic words meaning curved, bent, or bandy-legged. In that sense, Crump began as a descriptive nickname for a person with a crooked shape, posture, or walk.
History
19th-century surname writers treated Crump as an established English nickname name and noted that it was already well represented in the United States. The name appears in early modern English records in several spellings, including Crompe and Crumpe. It also survives in related surnames and forms such as Crum, Cramp, and Crimp, which may share the same broad nickname sense.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers specifically glossed Crump as meaning “the crooked.”
From the historical record
“Crump,— Nick, 'the crump,' i.e. the crooked. 'Crumpt, or crookt : Nomenclaior, p. 44- (HalHvKll). The surname is well known in the United States. Bridget Crompe emigrated to Virginia in 1635, and”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances