Donald Trump’s Real Name is Donald Drumpf-Mostly Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
There’s been a movement on social media to rebrand Donald Trump as “Donald Drumpf,” which is supposedly the presidential candidate’s real surname.
The Truth:
Donald Trump’s family name was changed from Drumpf to Trump at some point in history, but it’s not accurate to say that the Donald’s real surname is “Drumpf.”
That idea came from a segment on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” In the segment, which can be viewed here, Oliver discussed how the name “Trump” is often associated with power and prestige, and he continued:
The very name Trump is the corner stone of his brand. If only there was a way to uncouple that magical word from the man he really is. Well guess what, there is. It turns out the name “trump” was not always his family’s name. One biographer found out that an ancestor had changed it from, and this is true, “Drumpf,” and Drumpf is much less magical…
That much is true. Biographer Gwenda Blair wrote in her biography, “The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire,” that one of Trump’s ancestors had changed the name to Trump, probably while living in Germany in the 17th century. Blair expanded on the name change in an online Q&A with fans:
I don’t think that the Trumps’ success depended on the accidents of history, except possibly for one accident and that was, that back in Germany in the 17th century, the original spelling of their name, which was Drumpf, shifted to Trump, which was an immense boost to later generations to America, because it allowed them to associate with the word trump: trump suit, trump card; it’s a wonderful name. But otherwise I think they had remarkable energy and drive and a very sharp eye for the main chance. And they would have found that chance no matter what the circumstances around them.
So, it’s true the Trump family name was once Drumpf. But it’s not true that Donald Trump’s changed the name, or that he was once named Donald Drumpf. It’s not clear when the name-change happened, but a German newspaper confirms that Trump’s great-grandfather, Friedrich, was never called “Drumpf” in his homeland before he immigrated to America in 1885:
His father Fred had perhaps not so with the Heimattreue: For decades, held the even scattered by the family rumor that the Trumps had Swedish ancestors. This should in the years after the war, when the Germans had fallen into disrepute, keep the business running. wanted to build a museum proud Only after Sweden Location Carlstadt, came out: No, Grandpa Friedrich was in 1885 emigrated from Germany. And he always said Trump, never Drumpf, even if this misinformation still persists.
So, it’s true that the Trump family name was “Drumpf” centuries ago. But the idea that Donald Trump’s name used to be Donald Drumpf is mostly fiction.