Explore the Family Name Camden

The meaning of Camden

English: possibly a habitational name from Broad Campden or Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire, both named with Old English camp ‘enclosure’ + denu ‘valley’. Camden Town in London is not the source: this is a late name deriving from the title of Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, of Camden Place, Chislehurst (Kent), which takes its name from William Camden, the Elizabethan antiquary, whose surname is from Campden (Gloucestershire).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Camden in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Camden has seen a slight decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. The ranking of the name dropped from 9752 to 9954, which amounts to a -2.07% change within this period. However, the actual count of people with the Camden surname increased by over 6%, from 3059 in 2000 to 3243 in 2010. Additionally, the proportion of individuals named Camden per 100,000 decreased slightly by -2.65%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#9,752	#9,954	-2.07%
Count	3,059	3,243	6.02%
Proportion per 100k	1.13	1.1	-2.65%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Camden

Regarding ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of Camdens identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, though there was a slight decrease of -1.74% in 2010. The proportion of individuals with the Camden surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaskan Native saw increases ranging from 18.67% to 41.18% in 2010. Notably, individuals who identify as two or more races also increased from 1.57% to 2.04%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.77%	93.12%	-1.74%
Two or More Races	1.57%	2.04%	29.94%
Hispanic	1.47%	2%	36.05%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.85%	1.2%	41.18%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.75%	0.89%	18.67%
Black	0.59%	0.74%	25.42%