Campion
Usually an occupational surname from a word for a fighter or champion.
The #9,043 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 85,430 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as coming from Old French forms like campion or champion, meaning a fighter, contestant, or champion. Those words ultimately go back to Latin roots connected with the field of battle or contest. In English records the name appears in medieval spellings such as le Campion, showing that it was first used as a descriptive occupational byname.
History
The name is recorded in medieval England in several spellings, including Campion, Campiown, Campiun, and Campyun. It seems to have been used for a combatant or champion in the older sense of a fighter or champion in a contest. Later it became established as a hereditary surname in England and also appears in Ireland in some cases through English settlement and record-keeping.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries treated Campion and Champion as very close, and sometimes nearly the same name in medieval spelling.
From the historical record
“Robert StAc—Hund. Rolls. With that great campion Gray Steill [var. Steel].— Sir Gray Steill, 2789. 3 Dweller by a Stile [North. E. steel, a stile ; O.E. stiget]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)