The Plummer surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 25,596 people carried this name — #1,382 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 11,500 people counted. That is up 4% from 24,665 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Plummer surname

A surname originating as an occupation.

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

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as an occupational name: ‘the plumber’.

An early record he cites: Henry le Plomere, London, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Plummer, Plumber and Plomer.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 612 · public domain.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Plummer was found among the farmers of 3 counties.

It was most frequent in Wiltshire: 18 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 556. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Wiltshire 18
Norfolk 11
Berkshire 8

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

180 families named Plummer, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,078 people lived in those households, 6 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 6 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 39
Maryland 38
New Hampshire 27
Maine 26
Pennsylvania 15
North Carolina 13
Virginia 9
Connecticut 6
South Carolina 4
Vermont 2
New York 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 257 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Plummer in American newspapers,
1924–1929.

Newspaper page from Brownsville Herald carrying the name Plummer
Brownsville Herald 1929-03-20
Newspaper page from Brownsville Herald carrying the name Plummer
Brownsville Herald 1929-03-20
Newspaper page from East St. Louis Daily Journal carrying the name Plummer
East St. Louis Daily Journal 1924-10-31

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,102,899 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Plummer in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2000s.

41,719 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Plummer. The most, 7,239, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 3.1 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 17,888
Tasmania 8,022
Victoria 6,628
South Australia 5,111
Queensland 1,919
Western Australia 1,863
ACT (Canberra) 136
Northern Territory 54

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

Who carried it

People named Plummer,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Thomas Plummer
    Thomas Plummer 1684–1781
  • Brian Plummer d. 2008 · singer
  • Dexter Robert Plummer d. 2012
  • Sophia Goff d. 1911
  • Ella Margaret Holloway d. 1998
  • Heinrich Plummer 1300–1335 · notary

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Plummer,
in the records of 8 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 States1,965 records

1,965 records of the Plummer name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 919
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 381
  • Other U.S. records 665
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Charles Dean Plummer

    Born 1936; from Bluefield, West Virginia. U.S. Army, helicopter pilot; died in an accident 1968 in Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. Buried at Sunset Memorial Park, Chester, Virginia.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (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 Douglas C. Plummer

    Born 1909 in Arkansas. Enlisted 1942 at Little Rock; upholsterer. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

    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 Arthur Plummer

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the City of Chester from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 22; butcher. From Liverpool, England; bound for Philadelphia.

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

Showing 3 of 1,965 records for Plummer in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia1,234 records

1,234 records of the Plummer name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 522
  • Tasmanian Names Index 420
  • Other Australian records 292
  1. 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 George Plummer

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Moffatt, sailing from Portsmouth in 1842. Native of Hunston, Suffolk. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1852.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. 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 Abraham Plummer

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the John, sailing from Spithead in 1833. Native of Southwark, Surrey. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1841.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record George Plummer

    Arrived in Victoria in 1858 aboard the Morning Star, aged 50; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,234 records for Plummer in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada79 records

79 records of the Plummer name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 39
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 10
  • Other Canadian records 30
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Bryan Daniel Plummer

    Buried in 1990 at St. Mary's Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 21.

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

    Died 1913 in Liverpool, Queens, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Alfred Edwin Plummer

    Died 1935; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.

Showing 3 of 79 records for Plummer in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom44 records

44 records of the Plummer name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 39
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 5
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Edward Plummer

    Buried in 1802 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 49.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record E. J. Plummer

    Grenadier Guards. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. R. Plummer

    Coldstream Guards. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 44 records for Plummer in the United Kingdom.

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

New Zealand23 records

23 records of the Plummer name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 20
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 3
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Jane Ellen Plummer

    Died 1937, aged 53; buried at Bromley 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 Ernest Armstrong Plummer

    Buried in 1962 at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 72.

    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 Sydney Fredrick Plummer

    Died 1983, aged 75; buried at Waimairi Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 23 records for Plummer in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel 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).

Netherlands3 records

3 records of the Plummer name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 2
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Lancelot Plummer

    Married in 1681 in Rotterdam; born in Wigdon In Cumberland.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Alec Plummer

    Married in 1946 in Eindhoven.

    Open Archives, Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 3 records for Plummer in the Netherlands.

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

France2 records

2 records of the Plummer 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 Alfred Plummer

    Born 1915 in Great Britain; died 1998 in Fougères (Ille-et-Vilaine).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Innocente Eleonore Plummer

    Born 1938 in Le Vauclin (Martinique); died 2001 in Paris.

    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).

Germany1 record

1 record of the Plummer name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Wilhelm Plümmer

    From Aachen. Reported taken prisoner in the Prussian casualty list of 14 April 1919 (Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 28).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Plummer.

When the index is not enough

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

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