The Origin of the Family Name Trump

Donald Trump’s family name is quite appropriate. It is a surname of German origin, from the German word for “drum”, “drumf”. The one thing the Trump family knows is how to beat its own drum! It is unclear when his grandfather, Frederick Trump I, dropped the “f” from the family name and changed the “d” to a “t” but he did this before World War I. Some historians claim he made the name was changed when his grandfather, Frederick Trump, became an American citizen. Both his son Frederick II and his grandson Donald sought to distance themselves from their German heritage by claiming he was Swedish!

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