(male) New Testament name, borne by one of Christ's twelve apostles, referred to as ‘Thomas, called Didymus’ (John 11:16; 20:24). Didymos is the Greek word for ‘twin’, and the name is the Greek form of an Aramaic byname meaning ‘twin’. The given name has always been popular throughout Christendom, in part because St Thomas's doubts have made him seem a very human character.
Short form: Tom.
Pet form: Tommy.
Cognates: Irish: Tomás. Scottish Gaelic: Tòmas; Tàmhas. Welsh: Tomos. German, Dutch, Scandinavian: Thomas. French: Thomas. Spanish: Tomás. Portuguese: Tomás. Italian: Tommaso. Russian: Foma. Polish: Tomasz. Czech: Tomáš. Croatian: Toma. Slovenian: Tomaz. Finnish: Tuomo. Latvian: Toms. Lithuanian: Tomas.
Scottish: nickname from Gaelic cam ‘crooked’, ‘bent’ + beul ‘mouth’. The surname was often represented in Latin documents as de bello campo ‘of the fair field’, which led to the name sometimes being ‘translated’ into Anglo-Norman French as Beauchamp.
In New England documents, Campbell sometimes occurs as a representation of the French name Hamel.
FOREBEARS The founder of the clan Campbell (and the bearer of the nickname) was Gillespie Ó Duibhne, who lived at the beginning of the 13th century. He married Eva Ó Duibhne, heiress of Lochow, and from them descended a long line of Lairds of Lochow and immensely powerful Scottish aristocrats, including the dukes of Argyll. For centuries they wielded enormous power in Scotland. As with many Highland Scottish clan names, the surname was adopted not merely by descendants but also retainers of the original clan founders. John Campbell (1653–1727/8), born in Scotland, was postmaster general of Boston and published the Boston News-Letter (1704–22), the first continuously published newspaper in America.
