What clan is my family in?

[joshcampfield]

My name is Josh (or Joshua) Campfield. I've been poring through books trying to figure out what clan my family is in. I think it's Clan Campbell, just because of the similarity of the name, but I'm not sure. Can anyone help?

Also, how do you say my name (Josh) and the word "friend" in Gaelic?

[Polwarth]

Hello Josh
I'm afraid I don't have the Gaelic so cannot translate for you, but others here do speak Gaelic and may be able to help.

I've done a little checking and, despite your surname being similar to Campbell, the little I've managed to find is that it is an English name, of Norman origins (think 1066, Battle of Hastings!) and that it is still prevalent in the English counties of Kent, Lancashire and Northamptonshire.

That's not to say that there are no Campfields living in Scotland, merely that the name originated in England.

As an English name, it would have no clan connections. Even Scots names are not always part of a clan!

Try a google search entering Campfield name origins (or similar) and you will see that there are many sites with Campfields and Camfields on the web!

Good luck with your research.

[joshcampfield]

That's interesting what you said, because the name Campfield apparently refers to a battlefield in Scotland (Camp's field) or something like that. That's just from the spotty research I've done.

I have a book on genealogy specifically about the Campfield name and it says the name Campfield is from somewhere in the British Isles (England, Scotland, Ireland, it's probably not Welsh) but they can't place it.

It's an old name, in fact someone by the name Campfield went to Jamestown in 1607 for the first English settlement in the New World.

[Polwarth]

Well, if you seriously believe it might be Scots - the only way to prove it is to follow it back, generation by generation from yours, through your parents, their's etc.... all the way back to the first immigrant to the USA. Then, if you can find any passenger list with his/her name on it, it may give you clues to let you trace it back to a specific area of the UK.

The fact that you say an ENGLISH settlement in the early 1600s had a Campfield as a member, would tend to support the premise that the name is English in origin!

Here's a link re a Colonel Campfield
http://www.britannia.com/history/berks/bnewbury2.html

Campfield as a name of a battle site seems to ring a vague bell regarding the Battle of Falkirk... but that impression is from history lessons a very long time ago. It might be worth doing a google search?

It can be very frustrating for foreigners trying to find links back to the UK. If and when you do find links to Scotland, it may be possible to verify information via old Parish Records etc.

I wish you luck in your research!

[jafapete]

Hi Josh,

You have probably discovered spatial-literacy.org, now part of the National Trust website at: National Trust Names

It shows that Campfield is an English name. From the Midlands in fact. They were predominantly in Worcestershire, and there were also some in the SW, and - it almost goes without saying - a few around London. It's a quite rare name, there being only 66 in the 1881 census.

Cheers Peter

[aNonnyMoose]

The words "goodbye" spring to mind...