To: CKAMPA1@cs.com
"Hi,
"On December 10 you wrote me the following note:
<< I am interested in finding information about the surname Kampa. I know my family immigrated from Silesia (Poland) in 1875. I also know that the Czech Republic has things named after Kampa (Kampa Island, Kampa hotel, etc). I realize that politically there were many changes going on for years - perhaps the part of Poland they were from was one part of the Czech Republic? Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated. >>
"I'm sorry I couldn't answer sooner. I've been overwhelmed with notes asking
about names, and have had very little free time in which to answer them, so
I've fallen behind.
"As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk
wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in
Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were
1,534 Polish citizens named KAMPA. The largest numbers lived in the provinces
of Czestochowa (91), Katowice (359), and Opole (962), with the rest scattered
in small numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to
further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all
I have. This data does confirm that the name is found primarily in Silesia.
None of my sources discusses the derivation of this name; I particularly
hoped a book on Cieszyn names would be some help, as this is precisely the
area we're talking about, but it does not mention the name. I can only
speculate on some possible derivations based on words that are similar in
sound. The name could come from the German name KAMP, which Hans Bahlow in
Deutsches Namenlexikon says comes from the German word Kamp, "field,"
(undoubtedly from Latin campus). Bahlow cites place names such as Kampe in
Oldenburg, Kampen in Schleswig-Holstein, etc. It is quite possible KAMPA is a
Polish spelling of German KAMPE from this root.
"There is also a Polish word kampa that means "a stick used in a game of
kiczki." I can't discover exactly what a game of kiczki is, but it's at
least conceivable the name Kampa might in some cases derive from this term.
"One last possibility: KAMPA sounds a great deal like the Polish word ke~p
(pronounced, and sometimes spelled, "Kempa" -- I'm using E~ to stand for the
Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it). That word means
"cluster of trees" and is the basis for many place names and surnames. That
Polish nasal vowel is pronounced different ways in different areas, and very
often it sounds more like "am" than anything else. It is plausible that KAMPA
could come from a variant of this word.
"These are all just educated guesses on my part, and may prove to be
completely wrong. But these are the best suggestions I can make with the
material at hand. I hope perhaps this proves to be some help, and wish you
the best of luck with your research."
William F. Hoffman
Author, "Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings"
PGSA Publications Editor
