Camp (surname)

An English name from Latin roots. The name is found in Great Britain and in other places throughout the world settled by the English. According the 2000 census there are less than 1300 Camps in the UK.cite web |url=http://surname.sofeminine.co.uk/w/surnames/surname-camp.html |title=soFeminine Surname Search: Camp |accessdate=2008-03-11 ] The 2000 US census puts the number at over 27,000, making it the 1087th most common name in America, after McDermott.cite web |last=Roberts |first=Sam |year=2007 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/17/us/17surnames.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |title=In U.S. Name Count, Garcias Are Catching Up With Joneses |accessdate=2008-03-10 |publisher=New York Times.] The Australian government currently reports 465 persons named Camp.cite web |url=http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/atmoss/Falcon_Search_Tools.Main?pSearch=Surname&pWord=Camp&pCommand=Search |title=Australian Government: IP Australia-Search for Australian Surnames |accessdate=2008-03-18] The governments of Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa do not currently provide lists of surnames as the UK and others do. Totals outside the English-speaking world are also unknown.

Origins

People with the surname Camp have no single origin or ancestor, the name instead having been chosen by different families over a few centuries.cite web |last=Powell |first=Kimberly |url=http://genealogy.about.com/od/surname_meaning/a/english.htm |title=English Surnames - Meanings & Origins |accessdate=2008-03-10 ] The name is sometimes a variant spelling of "Kemp", which comes from the Old West Germanic "kampo-z", meaning "a contest, or fight", which became the Old English "kemp", for a "fighter" or "soldier."cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=c&p=2 |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |accessdate=2008-03-10 ] cite web |url=http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/k/kemp.php |title=Kemp Surname Origin & Last Name Meaning |accessdate=2008-03-12 ] However, the name usually denotes a family whose house was on an open field, or "camp", rather than in the woods or elsewhere.cite web |url=http://www.4crests.com/samcoatofarf.html |title=Surname Meanings A-D |accessdate=2008-03-11 ] The word was borrowed from the Middle French "camp", its first use in English, in 1528, being for a "place where an army lodges temporarily", only later transferring to a non-military use sometime after 1560. The French "camp" (later "champ") is itself derived from the Latin "campus", which also meant an "open field", but also and especially an "open space for military exercise". Oddly enough, the word's sense had been borrowed by the Germanic tribes during their conflicts with the Romans to become the aforementioned "kampo-z".cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=c&p=2 |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |accessdate=2008-03-10 ]

In the United States, the name is sometimes derived from other, often longer, European names (e.g. the Italian "Campesi" or the Dutch "Van de Kamp") which were changed during the process of cultural assimilation. Camp can also be a shortening or anglicizing of the French names "de Camp" and "du Camp".

Notable people with the Camp surname

* Bob Camp (1954–), American cartoonist and writer
* Colleen Camp (1953–), American actor
* Dalton Camp (1920–2002), Canadian politician and commentator
* David Lee Camp (1953–), American politician
* Hamilton Camp (1934–2005), English-American singer, songwriter and actor
* Jeremy Camp (1978–), American Christian musician
* Jesse Camp (1979–), American music television presenter
* John Lafayette Camp (1828–1891), American politician
* John Lafayette Camp, Jr. (1855–1918), American politician
* John H. Camp (1840–1892), American politician
* John Newbold Camp (1908–1987), American politician
* John Roswell Camp, a.k.a. John Sandford (1944-), American journalist and novelist
* Lee Camp (1984–), English football (soccer) player
* Steve Camp (1955-), American Christian musician
* Walter Camp (1859–1925), American football coach and sports writer
* Walter Mason Camp (1867-1925), American author, railroad expert, and historian

References