This unusual name has two possible origins. The first of these is from the male personal name 'Humphrey', introduced into England by the Normans as 'Humfrey' after the Conquest of 1066. The name is Germanic in origin, and is composed of the elements 'hun', bear cub, and 'frid', 'fred', peace. Rump(e) was a pet form of 'Humphrey' in the same way that 'R' and 'H' are interchangeable in the pet forms of Roger, which is Hodge, Richard, Dick, and Hob, for Robert. The Yorkshire Hundred Rolls of 1273 record one Geoffrey filius (son of) Rumphar. The second possible origin of the name is Anglo-Saxon, and reflects the 'robust' humour of medieval England, in the form of a nickname for someone thought to have a pear shaped figure, perhaps. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'rumpe'. Joshua Rump and Elizabeth Child were married in London in March 1697. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thurstan Rumpe, which was dated 1095, Feudal Documents of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, during the reign of King William II, 'Rufus', 1187 - 1100. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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