DEBORAH MUMPOWER

Biblical name (meaning ‘bee’ in Hebrew), borne by the nurse of Rebecca (Genesis 35:8) and by a woman judge and prophet (Judges 4–5) who led the Israelites to victory over the Canaanites. It has always been popular as a Jewish name. It was in use among Christians by the mid 16th century and was taken up by the Puritans in the 17th century, in part because the bee was a symbol of industriousness. Since then it has enjoyed enormous popularity, peaking in the 1960s. Among other famous bearers is the actress Deborah Kerr (1921–2007).

Probably an Americanized spelling of German Mumper, or of Mummenbrauer, an occupational name in Braunschweig (Brunswick) for a brewer of a local beer called Mumme. A heavily hopped barley beer with low alcohol content, it was first brewed in 1492 by a man named Mumme.