Just as 'Cameron' indicates that the PM's ancestors had crooked noses, 'Ben' indicates a large, rocky mountain.
Peter Drummond, author of 'Scottish Hill Names', takes us on a tour of Great Britain, teaching us how to read more into hill names.
"Lochnagar, a mountain made famous by Byron's poem, has a name that even a non-Gaelic speaker will realise is a bit of a curiosity, being named after a loch or lake. It had a previous, real, mountain name, as Beinn Cìochan, 'mountain of breasts or nipples', referring to the mammary-like granite tors on the summit. Queen Victoria's purchase of Balmoral estate below set a royal seal on using the 'loch' alternative name, rather than the earthy original, in the 19th century."
Read more at http://www.ukhillwalking.com/articles/page.php?id=3381