MUMMERY
The surname Mummery is traditionally regarded as of English provenance, with its earliest recorded meaning derived from the Middle English word mummery, a term that denoted a mime or a mimic. In medieval England it was often used as an occupational name and was given to performers of courtly and village entertainments, or sometimes as a nickname for individuals with a playful or humorous disposition.
There exists, however, a competing hypothesis that the name originates from a Norman French locational source. Following the Norman Conquest, the original form of the name may have been Montbrai, taken from a village in the department of Manche in Normandy, a name literally meaning “the muddy place on the hill.” Over the centuries the spelling evolved into a wide range of variants, including Mowbray, Mowbury, Moubray, Mumbray, Membry, Momery, Mummery, Me(m)mory, Mulb(e)ry and Mulberry. The first documentary witnesses of these forms appear in the 1130 Rolls of Whitby as Roger de Mulbrai, followed by Paganus de Moubrai in 1150 at Oxfordshire and Roger de Munbrai of Lincolnshire in 1185; all were active Crusaders and associated with the Knights Templar.
Later records continue the tradition of the name’s prominence: a Joseph Memory appears in London in 1584, and the 18th‑century Friary Rolls of Leicestershire record John Mowbray in 1714, John Mumory in 1725 and John Membry in 1748. Nobility bearing the surname includes the Scottish-born Thomas de Mowbray (1366–1399), who became Earl Marshall of England and the first Duke of Norfolk, and who possessed the ancient coat of arms recorded in 1297. The blazon of that escutcheon is a red field charged with a silver lion rampant, a design that predates the formal establishment of the College of Arms by two centuries.
The earliest documentary indication of a family member appears in the Anglo‑Saxon Chronicles (1087) under the name Rodbeard a Mundbraeg, a presumed reference to an early participant in the Norman contingent that accompanied King William I, the Conqueror, to England. The transformation of the surname from its Norman locational roots to the modern spelling Mummery illustrates the complex ways in which names evolve through linguistic, social and regional influences. The survival of the name into the present day attests to the enduring presence of its bearers within the British Isles and across the globe.
Typical given names associated with the Mummery surname
Male
- Alan
- Andrew
- Brian
- David
- John
- Lee
- Martin
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Simon
- Stephen
- Terry
- Thomas
Female
- Alison
- Audrey
- Charlotte
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Hazel
- Jean
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Lilian
- Nicola
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Mummery in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
Did you know?
According to a survey carried out by Democracy Club, politicians and candidates with the surname Mummery are most likely to say that their favourite biscuit is a Pink wafer.
There are approximately 1,042 people named Mummery in the UK. That makes it roughly the 7,132nd most common surname in Britain. Around 16 in a million people in Britain are named Mummery.
Famous people named Mummery
- Albert F. Mummery - Mountain climber (1855 to 1895)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.