Drumpf (alternately Drumpft) is a German surname that dates back to the 16th century. It is most commonly known as the likely predecessor to the family name of Donald Trump, businessman and 45th president of the United States. Talk show host and comedian

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...

brought attention to the name during the "Donald Trump" segment of his television program ''

Last Week Tonight A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by Shoemaking, shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cas ...

''.

History

Author

Gwenda Blair Gwenda Linda Blair (born 1943) is an American author and journalist known for her biographies of Jessica Savitch, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and the family of Donald Trump. She is an adjunct associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School ...

researched the Trump family origins, and identified Hanns Drumpf, an itinerant lawyer, who moved to

Kallstadt Kallstadt () is a village in the Palatine part of Rhineland-Palatinate, one of Germany's 16 federal states. It is part of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region whose largest city is Mannheim, Germany's 22nd largest city. During much of the 19th ce ...

in 1608. The spelling of his last name had changed by the end of the 17th century. Another early Trump ancestor that can be identified as using this alternate spelling is Johann Philipp Drumpft (1667–1707, parents and place of birth not recorded), who married Juliana Maria Rodenroth. In 2011, the ''

International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...

'' repeated an unverified claim that Donald Trump's paternal grandfather

Frederick Trump Frederick Trump (born Friedrich Trump, ; March 14, 1869 – May 30, 1918) was a German-born American barber and businessman. He was the patriarch of the Trump family and the paternal grandfather of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the Unite ...

changed his name from Drumpf to Trump, possibly to avoid anti-German sentiment popular at the time. In 2019, German broadcaster DW Akademie reported from the Trump German ancestral home in Kallstadt that there were no more people with the surname, and that according to the city's transportation association, the spelling had likely been changed during the reign of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

around the turn of the 19th century.

In popular culture

In the 2016 graphic novel ''Love Is Love'', one comic features a superhero, Rainbow Boy, who uses his powers to fight "Doc Drumpf" and his armies of "Spider Haters".

References

{{reflist Surnames Surnames of German origin Donald Trump