Camden
Meaning
place name/surname; meaning uncertain, possibly "winding valley"
The story
Camden reached the nursery by way of the map. It is an English surname and place name, its original meaning uncertain, though winding valley is one traditional guess, and it is best known from Camden Town in London and the port city in New Jersey. Americans mostly passed over it as a first name until the 1990s, when it began to climb alongside Aiden, Landon and the rest of the two-syllable surname brigade. Baseball may have lent a hand: Baltimore's beloved ballpark at Camden Yards opened in 1992, just as the name started moving, and while we cannot prove the connection, the timing lines up neatly. The rise steepened through the 2000s, crested in the 2010s, and has eased only a little since, leaving Camden a thoroughly contemporary pick with centuries of English geography behind it.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Camden peaked in the 2010s.
When you meet Camden
Most people given the name Camden in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Camden deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Camden truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Camden fits with your family’s names and surname.
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