The Cumming surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,047 people carried this name — #10,528 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 97,100 people counted. That is down 7% from 3,282 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Cumming surname

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic Cuimeinich, presumably from Anglo-Norman de Comyn, which was a surname of toponymic origin, either from Commin near Rouen or Comines near Lille.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Cumming» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Scotland, 1880s

Cumming was 15 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 667. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Inverness-shire and adjacent counties.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 587 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

Cumming was recorded 92 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 280th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 162. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Cumming in American newspapers,
1903–1922.

Newspaper page from Luxemburger Gazette carrying the name Cumming
Luxemburger Gazette 1903-01-06
Newspaper page from Rock Island Argus carrying the name Cumming
Rock Island Argus 1913-10-06
Newspaper page from Casper Daily Tribune carrying the name Cumming
Casper Daily Tribune 1922-04-19

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,519 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Cumming in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

53,279 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Cumming. The most, 7,876, date from the 1940s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 20,295
New South Wales 11,190
Queensland 7,903
South Australia 4,701
Western Australia 4,418
Tasmania 4,317
ACT (Canberra) 344
Northern Territory 56

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Cumming.

Who carried it

People named Cumming,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John Cumming d. 1850 · printer
  • Ruth Cumming d. 1967 · singer
  • James Cumming d. 1827 · civil servant
  • Margaret Cumming d. 1841
  • Muriel Louise Barran d. 1952
  • Lucia Dunbar d. 1734

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Cumming,
in the records of 7 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States1,197 records

1,197 records of the Cumming name in the United States
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 475
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 235
  • Other U.S. records 487
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Donald Cumming

    Born 1911 in United Kingdom. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Jay Governors Island, New York; driver. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1958, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Charles E. Cumming

    Born 1922 in Iowa. Enlisted 1942 at Camp Dodge Herrold; railroad brakeman from Black Hawk County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Spring Grove Cemetery, Nora Springs, Iowa.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Margaret Cumming

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Germanic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 21; servant. From Queenstown, Ireland; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 1,197 records for Cumming in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia2,365 records

2,365 records of the Cumming name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,259
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 434
  • Other Australian records 672
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Angus Cumming

    Died 1884 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 66. Will registered in Tasmania in 1885.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Jane Alexander Cumming

    Born 1858 in Deloraine, Tasmania. Married 1875 in Deloraine, Tasmania, aged 17.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record William Cumming

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Burrell, arriving 1830; ticket of leave 1835. Native of Aberdeen.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 2,365 records for Cumming in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada392 records

392 records of the Cumming name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 280
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 32
  • Other Canadian records 80
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record George Cumming

    Came to Ontario in 1871 aboard the Hibernian, landing at Quebec, bound for Watford, Ontario; Irish.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Ann Cumming

    Buried in 1971 at Union Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 88.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Melville Cumming

    Died 1969 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 392 records for Cumming in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom137 records

137 records of the Cumming name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 81
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 45
  • Other British records 11
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record David Cumming

    Born 1885 at Cromdale; farm servant. Died 1916. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921).

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Cumming

    Buried in 1878 at Valley Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 62.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record James Cumming

    Will proved in 1928; of Bangor, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)

Showing 3 of 137 records for Cumming in the United Kingdom.

Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Netherlands69 records

69 records of the Cumming name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 36
  • Dutch population registers 29
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 4
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Hendrik Carel Frederik Cumming

    Born 1892 in 's-Gravenhage. Died 1965 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 73.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Wilhelmina Johanna Sophia Cumming

    Born 1872 in Ellecom. Married in 1892 in 's-Gravenhage.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0); Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Cornelia Geertrude Sophia Cumming

    Born 1873 in Ellecom. Married in 1900 in Amsterdam.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0); Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 69 records for Cumming in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

New Zealand34 records

34 records of the Cumming name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 29
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 2
  • Other New Zealand records 3
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Cumming

    Died 1902, aged 46; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record John Cumming

    Buried in 1940 at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 47.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Donald Bennett Cumming

    Died 1992, aged 59; buried at Fairhall Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 34 records for Cumming in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

France1 record

1 record of the Cumming name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record John William Bernard Cumming

    Born 1923 in Ireland; died 1987 in Ireland.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Cumming.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Cumming is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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