Drummer: Blog Baby

I’d never heard of Drummer until Katy, the amazingly creative blogger behind No Big Dill, welcomed baby #6 – and her first boy – a few years ago. Her daughters are Divine, Pearl, Olive, Azure, and Clover, so I knew any name they chose would be a stand-out.

And so it was: Drummer Zion.

Drummer: Occupational Surname Name

Of course, Drummer is very much on trend.

Occupational surname names like Carter, Tyler, Parker, and Cooper rank in the US Top 100.

And yet this name is seldom heard. Strummer, yes. Equally musical, but referring to a guitar instead of percussion, plus legendary frontman for The Clash, Joe Strummer. Strummer has been given to a handful of boys in the last decade or so. Still rare, but not completely unknown.

Drummer has never been given to even five boys in a single year, which means he’s unrecorded in the US Social Security statistics.

But a surname name it is, and an occupational one, too. A Drummer – or Trummer – played either a trumpet or a drum.

There could be quite the story there – drummers went to battle, using their instruments to communicate battlefield commands.

Drummers could be young – mere boys, sometimes the sons of soldiers. Officially, there were age limits, but they were ignored at least some of the time.

Paintings of little drummer boys abound, especially from the nineteenth century.

Drummer: Christmas Carol

There’s no boy drumming at the manger in the New Testament.

The “Carol of the Drum” was first written in 1941, and popularized in the 1950s, when The Trapp Family Singers and others performed the song.

The story is simple – a young boy is brought to meet the newborn Jesus. Unlike the Magi, with their gold and frankincense, the boy is poor. He has “no gift to bring” but he plays for the baby, and wins the approval of all.

The song may have roots in a Czech carol. As for the story, there’s a traditional French tale, Le Jongleur de Notre Dame. In the medieval legend, a juggler-turned-monk performs before a statue of the Virgin Mary, juggling because he has no other talent to offer.

Over the years, the carol was re-titled “The Little Drummer Boy,” and dozens of other artists recorded the song.

For parents of this generation, the Bing Crosby and David Bowie collaboration from 1977. There’s a great story behind it, and it remains one of the best known versions of the song.

Drummer: Daring Devotional Name for a Son

Musical names are all the rage, as are many categories of word name. Lyric and Chord are gentle. Strummer is pure punk rock.

Drummer is somewhere in-between. There’s something devotional about the story of the poor boy playing for the baby Jesus in the manger. And yet, it’s impossible to deny Drummer’s brash and crashing sound.

If you’re looking for a modern name that honors your faith, Drummer might be a truly surprising choice to consider – especially if your son arrives in December.