Campbell

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Campbell is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname179K records spelled Campbell9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Colombia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Spanish, Italian, Romanian

  Also written Càmpbell, Cämpbëll, Cámpbéll

• a separate surname150K records spelled Campbell4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Camp-Bell, Cam-Pbell

• Czech surname26K records spelled Campbell27 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Czechia, Canada

  Languages: Czech, Russian, Croatian

  Also written Кэмпбелл, Кемпбелл, Кэмпбэлл, Kempbell, Кембъл

• Arabic surname26K records spelled Campbell6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Egypt, United Kingdom, Palestine

  Languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic

  Also written קמפבל, Ċämpbëll

• Hindi surname20K records spelled Campbell8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

  Also written ক্যাম্পবেল, কযামপবেল

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Campbell is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, From Gaelic Caimbeul, a nickname meaning ‘wry mouth’; first recorded in 1263 as Gillespic Cambel. Also linked to the Loch Awe clan O’Duine/Clann Duibhne.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, Gaelic caimbeul ‘wry or crooked mouth’; first attested Colin Campbell 1282 Black

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, Gaelic clan name; one of the great Scottish Highland clans.

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• Transferred use of the Scottish surname, borne by one of the great Highland clans, whose head is the Duke of Argyll. The oY name is derived from an ancestor with a crooked mouth (Gaelic cam beul).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A characteristical surname from Scottish Gaelic.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 122 years between 1881–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Joseph Campbellb. 1904USAmerican mythologist, writer and lecturer (1904–1987)
• John W. Campbellb. 1910USAmerican science fiction writer (1910–1971)
• Glen Campbellb. 1936USAmerican musician (1936–2017)
• Martin Campbellb. 1943NZNew Zealand film and television director (born 1943)
• Kim Campbellb. 1947CA19th Prime Minister of Canada in 1993
• Nicholas Campbellb. 1952CACanadian actor and filmmaker
• Bruce Campbellb. 1958USAmerican actor
• Naomi Campbellb. 1970GBBritish ubermodel
• Neve Campbellb. 1973CACanadian actress
• Sol Campbellb. 1974GBEnglish footballer and manager (born 1974)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 605 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Campbell?

We estimate roughly 394 thousand people bear Campbell (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Campbell have the most bearers?

We estimate about 386 thousand people bear Campbell in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled campbell.

How common is Campbell compared with other names?

In the United States, Campbell is the 43rd most common surname of 7,257,200 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Campbell mean?

Recorded meaning: From a Scottish Gaelic nickname cam beul ‘crooked mouth’, originally for Gillespie O Duibhne, founder of the clan Campbell.