I’ve sometimes wondered why Campbell isn’t a more popular baby name. By all rights, it should be! Pronounced “Kam-bull” (the ‘p’ is silent), it sounds a lot like the tried and tested names Cameron and Camden. Campbell is the name of one of Scotland’s most historically powerful clans, and many people can find this surname in their family tree. Campbell is gender neutral too, falling into a fast-growing category of baby names including Parker and Rowan. So why isn’t it more popular?
Though some people associate Campbell with Ireland too, it originated as a Scottish Gaelic surname meaning “crooked mouth” or “wry mouth,” from the roots cam (‘crooked’) and beul (‘mouth’). You probably think this is a strange association for a baby name, but thousands of parents have picked Cameron (which similarly means “crooked nose”) without batting an eyelash. Plenty of other classic names have meanings like “bald” (Calvin), “blind” (Cecilia), “bitter” (Mara) and “sorrows” (Dolores).
Campbell has a sporadic usage history during the 20th and 21st centuries. It was an occasionally popular boys’ name in the early 20th century in its native Scotland, while it was mildly popular elsewhere in the Commonwealth in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, Americans popularized it as a unisex name in the early aughts, though it had rarely reached the Top 1000 as a boys’ name about a century earlier. Curiously and due to unknown causes, usage spiked for daughters born between 2000 and 2010, peaking in 2006 with 389 American girls receiving the name that year. Some possible influences for this time frame include Cameron’s popularity (itself inspired by Cameron Diaz), model Naomi Campbell, and journalist Campbell Brown. I myself was introduced to the idea of Campbell as a girls’ name through Frasier (1993-2004), though I don’t know if she ever reappeared beyond that one episode. Then you have Glen Campbell, who’s an older reference but might have inspired some music-loving parents.
Today, the boy-girl split is about even. According to the Social Security Administration, 195 baby girls and 214 baby boys were named Campbell in 2022. Campbell far surpasses the minimum 90/10 percentage balance to be called a unisex name; with a gender balance at nearly 50/50, Campbell is a gender neutral baby name by definition. With a variety of nicknames like Cam, Cammy, Camp, and Belle, Campbell fits any child in any situation.
I suspect the reason why Campbell never took off the way Cameron and Camden did has nothing to do with its meaning but everything to do with brand names. What American family hasn’t seen or eaten those classic cans of Campbell’s Soup? So many of us have eaten the chicken soup when sick or used another one of their soups for a casserole or chili recipe when we needed an easy, comforting meal. Maybe you’ve dipped a grilled cheese into their tomato soup? If you’ve been reading my over the past several months, you’ve probably seen a few of my posts about baby names inspired by food. A lot of people probably avoid the name Campbell because of the soup connection, but why? The soup is iconic. Within reason, I don’t see anything wrong with naming children while inspired by fond food memories. Food brings people together!
What do you think of Campbell? Would the soup connection deter you from using the name? Do you have any other associations? Let me know! Campbell is still considered rare, but if just 8 more boys had gotten the name it would be a Top 1000 boys’ name in the U.S. Who knows if it will become popular in 2023? We’ll find out next May.
The Well-Informed Namer 