Camden
A locational surname likely meaning “from Campden” in Gloucestershire, later linked to the antiquary William Camden.
The #9,954 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,204 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken from the English place-name Campden in Gloucestershire, with the ending simplified over time to Camden. The place-name is usually explained as containing Old English elements meaning a valley or settlement near a camp or hill-fort, though medieval spellings varied. Some older writers also connected the name with William Camden’s residence at Chislehurst, but that is a later association rather than the original source of the surname.
History
William Camden, the celebrated Elizabethan antiquary, made the name especially well known, and later the title Marquess Camden was derived from Camden Place at Chislehurst. The surname is uncommon as a hereditary family name and in modern use is often more familiar as a place-name or title than as a widespread surname. Early lexicographers treated it as a local surname, probably from Gloucestershire.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is strongly associated with William Camden, whose work helped shape the study of British history and topography.
From the historical record
“the Netherlands. De Cambreye. PI.R. CAMDEN. The great antiquary, "the Nourice of Antiquitie," was descended from a plebeian family in Statiordsbire. Noble's Coll. of Arms. Tlie name may have been originally taken from Campden, CO. Gloucester. Tlie house in which Wil- liam Camden lived, at Chiselhurst co. Kent, is…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom