This interesting and unusual surname has two possible origins, Firstly, the name may be a variant of Camplin, a metonymic occupational surname for a maker or seller of camel-hair cloth, or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore this type of cloth; the derivation is from the Anglo-Norman French "camelin". However, in some instances, the name may be a diminutive of Camp, from an Anglo-Saxon personal name, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cempa", a warrior, or "camp", a battle, plus the diminutive suffix "-kin". Pre 7th Century Anglo-Saxon and Norse baptismal names were usually distinctive compounds whose elements were often associated with the Gods of Fire, Water, and War, or composed of disparate elements. The surname from the former source first appears in the early 13th Century (see below), while Camp itself is first recorded in 1066, when one Alricus Campe is mentioned in Cambridgeshire Records. Recordings from English Church Registers include the marriage of Nicholas Campkin and Agnes Dynne on July 14th 1562, at East Walton, Norfolk, and the marriage of Michaell Campkin and Susan Turner at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London, on February 17th 1628. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Stephen Camelyn, which was dated 1230, in the "Calendar of the Close Rolls", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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