From the Scottish Highland clan name, cam beul, ‘crooked mouth’ — carried into Ulster by Campbell gallowglass and, later, Plantation settlers.
Scottish Origin · Root meaning ‘crooked mouth’
Campbell descends from the Argyll clan name, built from cam (‘crooked’) and beul (‘mouth’) — most likely an old physical byname rather than an insult. Campbells first arrived in Ulster as gallowglass, hired Scottish mercenary soldiers, centuries before the wider Plantation brought many more.
A clan name that reached Ireland twice, first by the sword and later by the Plantation grant — both times, it stayed.
Irish form: (no Gaelic form)
