Kume as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Kume

What is the meaning of the name Kume ?

The baby name Kume is a Unisex name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced {'ipa_japanese': '/kɯ.me/', 'respelling_japanese': 'koo-meh', 'ipa_english': '/ˈkuː.meɪ/ or /ˈkuː.me/', 'respelling_english': 'KOO-may or KOO-meh'}.

Kume is Japanese in Origin.

Kume has dual roots. In Japanese it is chiefly a surname and place-name, written 久米 - literally “long time” + “rice,” a locative label for ancient paddy settlements and borne by the Kume clan; in the Ryukyus it appears in Kumemura, a community of scholars of Chinese descent. As a given name, Kume is rare but usable and unisex; when written in kana or with other kanji, its nuance can vary, though the surname form stays 久米.

Outside Japan, Kume also aligns with Basque kume, “offspring; chick,” making it an appealing modern word-name with a tender sense. Documented usage is strongest as a Japanese surname (e.g., historian Kume Kunitake, painter Kume Keiichirō), while given-name adoption is contemporary and cross-cultural. Variants and related forms include stylized Kumé, the near-homophone Kumi (distinct Japanese feminine name), and short forms Ku or Kum. Meaning thus ranges from agrarian/locative to “child, young one,” depending on source.

⚙ Kume is seldom given. We have only 177 recorded uses of it on record, from 27 countries.