Cams History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Cams

What does the name Cams mean?

The name Cams belongs to the early history of Britain, it's origins lie with the Anglo-Saxons. It is a product of their having lived on the bank of a river or stream named the of Cam. The surname Cams is topographic in nature, the type of surname that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a river or stream. The surname also refers to the camb, which is the crest of a hill or a dike.

Early Origins of the Cams family

The surname Cams was first found in Gloucestershire, where the name is associated with the village of Cam, a parish, in the union of Dursley, Upper division of the hundred of Berkeley.

"This place is distinguished as the scene of a battle fought between the Saxons and the Danes, in the reign of Edward the Elder. The parish takes its name from a rivulet that divides it into Upper and Lower, and falls into the Severn at Frampton." 1

In the Domesday Book survey of 1086 Cam was recorded as King's land. 2 Early in the history of the family name it branched to Lincolnshire, where Ralph de Caham was registered in 1162, to Norfolk, where Osbert de Cam was living during the reign of King Henry II, and to Hampshire, where Fabian de Cam was recorded in 1184 and William Cam in 1205. By the 13th century the name was established in Somerset, where William de Camme was living in 1214. Hugh de Camme was a resident of Gloucestershire in 1221. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 lists the following: Henry del Cam, Suffolk; and Robert de Cam, Oxfordshire. Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Willelmus Cambe, conttabularius; Johannes Cambe; and Nicholaus Cambe as all holding lands there at that time. 4

Early History of the Cams family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cams research. Another 258 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1275, 1326, 1399, 1415, 1500, 1604, 1627, 1633, 1641, 1656, 1705, 1707, 1716, 1733 and 1771 are included under the topic Early Cams History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cams Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Cams include Cam, Camm, Camme, Caham, Cahm, Cahme and others.

Early Notables of the Cams family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

John Camm (1604?-1656), was an English Quaker, "born at Camsgill, near Kendal, Westmorland, and was a man of good birth, tolerable education, and considerable property. " 5

Cams migration to the United States +

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Cams were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records:

Cams Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

A Cams, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 6
Jeri Cams, aged 35, who landed in Texas in 1894 6

Sources +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)