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Drum History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Drum History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Drum is a name whose ancestors lived among the Picts, a tribe in ancient Scotland. The Drum family lived on the lands of Drum, in the parish of Drumoak in Aberdeenshire where the name can be found since very early times.

Early Origins of the Drum family

The surname Drum was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland. The family is of local origin from Drum in the parish of Drumoak. "The original name of this place was Dalmaik, by which it is still generally called by the inhabitants, though the denomination of Drumoak has also been used for more than 300 years; the latter appellation is said to be derived from the Gaelic word drum, signifying the ridge of a hill, and the term Moloch, corrupted into Moak, the name of a celebrated saint to whose honour a monastery was erected in St. Servanus' isle, on the water of Leven. The name of Dalmaik is compounded of the Gaelic Dal, a haugh or valley, and St. Moloch, corrupted into Maik, and signifies the valley of St. Moloch, a description applicable to the district containing the ruins of the old church, near which is a well called St. Maik's Well. " 1 Drum is one of the four estates in the parish. The lands of Cutler have been held by the family from a very early period. Some of the first records of the name were: John de Drum who was prebendary of Butirgill, 1372, and another John de Drum who was prebendary of Buthirgill in 1449. 2

Early History of the Drum family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Drum research. Another 53 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1539, 1600, 1685, 1748 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Drum History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Drum Spelling Variations

The appearance of the printing press and the first dictionaries in the last few hundred years did much to standardize spelling. Prior to that time scribes spelled according to sound, a practice that resulted in many spelling variations. Drum has been spelled Drum, Drumm and others.

Early Notables of the Drum family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was

John Drum of Drum

Drum Ranking

In the United States, the name Drum is the 6,923^rd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Drum family to Ireland

Some of the Drum family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 88 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Drum migration to the United States +

The expense of the crossing to the North American colonies seemed small beside the difficulties of remaining in Scotland. It was a long and hard trip, but at its end lay the reward of freedom. Some Scots remained faithful to England and called themselves United Empire Loyalists, while others fought in the American War of Independence. Much of this lost Scottish heritage has been recovered in the last century through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Drum:

Drum Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Anna Cathrina Drum, aged 11, who landed in New York in 1710 4
Adam Drum, aged 31, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1737 4
Phillip Drum who settled in Philadelphia in 1738
Philip Drum, aged 36, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1738 4
Simon Drum, who arrived in America in 1739 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drum Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mary Drum, aged 16, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1803 4
Nathl Drum, aged 34, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1803 4
William Drum, aged 20, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1803 4
Oliver Drum, aged 25, who arrived in Maryland in 1813 4
Thomas Drum, aged 24, who arrived in America in 1822 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Drum migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Drum Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Edward Drum, aged 26, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Perseus" in 1834
Ann Drum, aged 26, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Perseus" in 1834
Mr. John James Drum, aged 6 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Rose" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle on 16th June 1847 5
Mr. Charles Drum, aged 5 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Rose" departing 19th April 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 1st July 1847 but he died on board 6
Miss. Eliza Drum, aged 1 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Rose" departing 19th April 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 1st July 1847 but she died on board 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Drum (post 1700) +

Richard Coulter Drum (1825-1909), American Adjutant General of the United States Army from 1880 to 1889
James W. Drum, American architect in the mid 1800s
Lieutenant-General Hugh Aloysius Drum (1879-1951), American Commanding General Northeast Defense Command (1941-1943), eponym of Fort Drum 7
Kevin Drum (b. 1958), American political blogger and columnist
James Drum (1920-1976), American actor, known for his roles in Sssssss (1973), Studs Lonigan (1960) and Bonnie's Kids (1973)
Frank Drum (1931-2018), Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond in 1950
Marcus James Drum (b. 1987), Australian rules footballer
Damian Kevin Drum (b. 1960), the Australian Nationals member for Northern Region in the Victorian parliament
Christopher James Drum (b. 1974), New Zealand cricket player

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 26)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 74)
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2012, January 24) Hugh Drum. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Drum/Hugh_Aloysius/USA.html