Find out how popular the last name Camus is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Camus.

Camus, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Camus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Camus in America

Camus is the 32396th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Camus surname appeared 710 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Camus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Camus to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Camus

The surname Camus originated from France, specifically the Normandy region. It first appeared in records during the early Middle Ages, around the 11th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Old French word "camus," meaning "flat-nosed" or "snub-nosed." This descriptor likely referred to a distinctive facial feature of an early bearer of the name.

Camus is believed to have emerged as a surname during the wave of surname adoption that occurred in France after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. As the new aristocratic class sought to solidify their identities, many surnames were derived from physical characteristics, occupations, or places of origin.

The earliest known record of the Camus surname appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership and wealth commissioned by William the Conqueror. This entry suggests that the Camus name was already established in Normandy before the conquest.

One of the earliest documented individuals with the Camus surname was Raoul Camus, a Norman lord who lived in the 12th century and participated in the Third Crusade (1189-1192). Another notable early bearer was Guillaume Camus, a French nobleman and military commander who served under King Philip IV (1268-1314).

During the Middle Ages, the Camus name also appeared in various spellings, such as Camus, Camus, and Cammus, reflecting the flexible nature of surname spelling at the time. Some of these variations may have been influenced by the place names from which certain branches of the family originated.

In the 16th century, Jean Camus (1584-1629) was a French jurist and author who served as the Lieutenant General of the Bailiwick of Calais. Another famous bearer was the French philosopher and writer Albert Camus (1913-1960), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957 for his significant literary works, including "The Stranger" and "The Plague."

Other notable individuals with the Camus surname include Jean-Pierre Camus (1584-1652), a French theologian and bishop; Armand Gaston Camus (1740-1804), a French mathematician and philosopher; and Georges Camus (1914-2008), a French politician and member of the Resistance during World War II.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Camus

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Camus.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Camus was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Camus has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Camus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Camus, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!