Where did the name Campbell come from? What is their coat of arms? When did the Campbell family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the history of the family name?

Text Size

Coat of Arms > Campbell Coat of Arms

Campbell Coat of Arms and Name History

Campbell

Origin Displayed: Scottish

Spelling variations of this family name include: Campbell, Cambell, Cambel, Camble, Cammell and many more.

First found in Argyllshire where they held a family seat from early times.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Neil Campbel, who was a Scotch prisoners deported to New Jersey in 1685; Agnes Campbell, who arrived at New York in 1774 with her two children; the Campbells who migrated from the Highlands to Canada and U.

Motto Translated: Forget not.

Suggested Readings for the name Campbell
"Campbell Family History" by Gwen Campbell.

Some noteworthy people of the name Campbell

Carroll Ashmore Campbell Jr. (b. 1940), American, Republican politician, representative from South Carolina (1979-1987) and governor of South Carolina (1987-1995)
Jack M Campbell (1916-1999), American lawyer and Democratic politician, governor of New Mexico (1963-1967)
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), American folklorist and authority on mythology
Lana Deym Campbell (b. 1955), award winning American artist (born Countess Svietlana Deym von Stritez) who Salvador Dali once called "one of the most talented persons he had ever met."
William Wallace Campbell (1862-1938), American astronomer, and director of Lick Observatory from 1900 to 1930
Douglas Campbell (1896-1990), American aviator awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Croix de Guerre during WWII. He was the first American aviator flying in an American unit to achieve the status of ace
Robert Campbell, American Pulitzer Prize-winning (1996) architecture critic for the Boston Globe
Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC, DSO & Two Bars (1886-1953), English naval officer awarded the the Victoria Cross in 1917
Charles Arthur Campbell (1897-1974), Scottish philosopher
Lewis Campbell (1830-1908), British (Scottish born) classical scholar and professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews (1863-1894). In 1894, he was elected an honorary fellow of Balliol College, Oxford
Lieutenant Colonel Lorne MacLaine Campbell (1902-1991), Scottish soldier awarded the Victoria Cross during WWII
Field Marshal Sir Colin Campbell GCB, KSI (1792-1863), British Army officer, 1st Baron Clyde, Knighted in 1849
Sir John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell KG, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC (1845-1914), 9th Duke of Argyll, Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada (1878-1883)
Prime Minister Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (b. 1947), 19th Prime Minister of Canada (1993) and the only female Prime Minister
Naomi Campbell (b. 1970), English supermodel
Mrs. Patrick Campbell (1865-1940), English actress by far the biggest name on the London stage in the early 1900s
Donald Malcolm Campbell CBE (1921-1967), British car and motorboat racer who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 60s. He remains the only person to set both land and water speed records in the same year (1964). Son of Sir Malcolm Campbell
Sir Malcolm Campbell (1885-1948), English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s. Father of Donald Campbell, he was knighted by King George V in 1931
Reginald John Campbell (1867-1956), English clergyman
Ignatius Roy Dunnachie Campbell (1901-1957), South African poet and journalist
William Wilfred Campbell (1858-1918), Canadian rector, civil servant, novelist, and poet
Brigadier John Charles Campbell (1894-1942), British soldier awarded the Victoria Cross during WWII
Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell (1917-1941), British aviator awarded the Victoria Cross during WWII
Captain Frederick William Campbell (1867-1915), Canadian soldier awarded the Victoria Cross for actions during WW I
Second Lieutenant Alexander Fraser Campbell GC (1898-1940), awarded the George Cross for conspicuous gallantry in defusing a bomb on the 17th of October 1940
Philippa Campbell (b. 1955), New Zealand film producer and creative executive
Richard Mitchelson Campbell CMG (1897-1974), New Zealand economist, civil servant, and diplomat
Martin Campbell (b. 1944), New Zealand TV and film director

Clan Badge

Tell Me More About Coat of Arms

View Armorial History with Coat of Arms Guided Tour
Bibliography - References used for our surname histories
View sample history for: Donovan, Gauthier, Kowalski, MacGregor, Perelli, Schmidt
Coats of Arms: History
Coats of Arms: the Heraldic Artist
Coats of Arms: Timeline
Coats of Arms: Elements
Family Crests and Genealogy: how they relate

Learn More About Scottish Surnames

THE SCOTTISH CLANS

A clan is a social group made up of a number of distinct branch-families that actually descended from, or accepted themselves as descendants of, a common ancestor. The word clan means simply children. The idea of the clan as a community is necessarily based around this idea of heredity and is most often ruled according to a patriarchal structure. For instance, the clan chief represented the hereditary "parent" of the entire clan. The most prominent example of this form of society is the Scottish Clan system.

More

MAC, MC PREFIX

Scottish and Irish patronymic surnames frequently have the prefix Mac or Mc. When these surnames were originally developed, they were formed by adding the Gaelic word mac, which means son of, to the name of the original bearer's father. For example, the surname MacDougall literally means son of Dougal. In later times, these prefixes were also added to the occupation or nickname of the bearer's father. For example, MacWard means son of the bard and MacDowell means son of the black stranger.

More

THE PICTS

The Picts were a mysterious warrior people of ancient Britain. According to tradition, the Picts migrated from the shores of Brittany around the 15th century BC. They sailed northward to Ireland, but were refused permission to settle there by the ancient kings of that land. However, the Picts were granted permission to settle in the northeastern part of Scotland on the condition that each Pictish king marry an Irish princess, thus providing the Irish with a colony whose rulers were of royal Irish blood. This Pictish settlement was ruled by a matriarchal hierarchy unlike any other form of government in British history.

More

THE REGIONS OF SCOTLAND

BORDERS

More

SCOTLAND: THE BOERNICIANS

The Boernicians, who were a mixture of Scottish Picts, Angles, and Vikings, were one of the ancient clans of the Scottish-English borderlands. Considered to be the ancient founding peoples of the north, the Boernicians inhabited the tract of rugged territory that stretches from Carlisle in the west to Berwick in the east. In the 4th century, Scotland was composed of five different kingdoms, which were each home to a different race: the Gaels, Vikings, Picts, Britons, and Angles all held land, each had their own realm.

More

THE VIKINGS

The Vikings, a Scandinavian people of astounding vitality, first began their invasion of Scotland in 794. However, the first wave of mass Viking migration occurred around 888, when King Harold of Norway defeated an unruly faction of northern clans who then abandoned their homeland. In search of a new place to live, they migrated to the sea-swept Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland under the leadership of their chief, Earl Sigurd. This settlement was permitted by the Scottish king and the kings of the Isle of Man, who allowed the Viking exiles to make their homes in the Orkney and Shetland Islands in return for a payment of 20,000 shillings.

More

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

Many people wonder which spelling of this Scottish name is the older. The quick answer is Stewart. The line of Stewart monarchs of Scotland began in 1371, descending from the union of Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce and Walter, the 6th High Steward of Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots was born in 1542, a few days later her father died and she became infant Queen of Scotland.

More

SCOTLAND: A BRIEF HISTORY

The long history of the lands of the northern third of Great Britain has been violent and often tragic. The castles and ruins, the songs and the legends tell Scotland's tale. It is the harshness of its history and the ruggedness of its land that have shaped its proud inhabitants. How the country came to be, and evolved, has long taxed the minds of many historians.

More

KINGS AND QUEENS OF SCOTLAND

Fergus Mor c.500-501
Domangart mac Fergus 501-507
Comgall mac Domangart 507-538
Gabhran mac Domangart 538-558
Conall mac Comgall 558-574
Aedan mac Gabhran 574-608
Eochaid Buide 608-629
Connad Cerr 629
Domnal Brecc the Freckled 629-642

More

STRATHCLYDE BRITONS

Considered to be one of the founding peoples of the north, the Strathclyde Britons were of Celtic descent and were divided into three sub-kingdoms. The Selgovae dwelled north of the Clyde, while the Novantii lived in Galloway in the southwest of Scotland. The Rhiged lived in what later became the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire in England.

More

SEPTS OF SCOTLAND

Scottish Clans also contained septs or branches, which were founded when powerful or prominent clansmen established their own important families. Clans often had many septs that were often related through marriage. During difficult times, the families sought to ally themselves with larger more powerful clans for protection from enemies and other feuding clans alike. This practice, which often included paying homage to the Clan Chief at important events was effective in building respect, devotion and familiarity between different families within the same clan.

More