Smith is an occupational surname[3] originating in England. It is the most prevalent surname in the United Kingdom,[1][4] the United States, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand,[5] and the fifth most common surname in the Republic of Ireland. In the United States, the surname Smith is particularly prevalent among those of English, Scottish, and Irish descent,[6] but is also a common surname among African-Americans, which can be attributed either to African slaves having been given the surname of their masters, or to being an occupational name, as some southern African-Americans took this surname to reflect their or their father's trade.[7] 2,442,977 Americans shared the surname Smith at the time of the 2010 census,[8] and more than 500,000 people shared it in the United Kingdom as of 2006.[9] At the turn of the 20th century, the surname was sufficiently prevalent in England to have prompted the statement: "Common to every village in England, north, south, east, and west";[10] and sufficiently common on the (European) continent (in various forms) to be "common in most countries of Europe".[11]
 A close-up of a blacksmith at work; Smith became a popular last name for those with this occupation. | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsmɪθ/ |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Old English |
| Meaning | From smitan (to smite) |
| Region of origin | England |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Numerous |
| [1][2] | |
Etymology and history
editThe name refers to a smith, originally deriving from smið or smiþ, the Old English term meaning one who works in metal, related to the word smitan, the Old English form of smite, which also meant strike (as in early 17th century Biblical English: the verb "to smite" = to hit). The Old English word smiþ comes from the Proto-Germanic word smiþaz. Smithy comes from the Old English word smiðē from the Proto-Germanic smiðjon. The use of Smith as an occupational surname dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when inherited surnames were still unknown: Ecceard Smith of County Durham, North East England, was recorded in 975.[12]
A popular misconception holds that at the beginning of the 20th century, when many new immigrants were entering the U.S., civil servants at Ellis Island responsible for cataloging the entry of such persons sometimes arbitrarily assigned new surnames if the immigrants' original surname was particularly lengthy, or difficult for the processor to spell or pronounce.[citation needed] While such claims may be exaggerated,[13] many immigrants did choose to begin their American lives with more "American" names, particularly with Anglicised versions of their birth names; the German Schmidt was often Anglicized to Smith not only during the world wars, but also commonly in times of peace, and the Polish equivalent Kowalski was Anglicized to Smith as well.
Variations
editVariations of the surname Smith also remain very common. These include different spellings of the English name, and versions in other languages.
English variations
editThere is some disagreement about the origins of the numerous variations of the name Smith. The addition of an e at the end of the name is sometimes considered an affectation, but may have arisen either as an attempt to spell smithy or as the Middle English adjectival form of smith,[14] which would have been used in surnames based on location rather than occupation (in other words, for someone living near or at the smithy).[15]
Likewise, the replacement of the i with a y in Smyth or Smythe is also often considered an affectation but may have originally occurred because of the difficulty of reading blackletter text, where Smith might look like Snuth or Simth.[14] However, Charles Bardsley wrote in 1901, "The y in Smyth is the almost invariable spelling in early rolls, so that it cannot exactly be styled a modern affectation."[10]
Some variants (such as Smijth) were adopted by individuals for personal reasons, while others may have arisen independently or as offshoots from the Smith root. Names such as Smither and Smithers may in some cases be variants of Smith but in others independent surnames based on a meaning of light and active attributed to smyther.[15] Additional derivatives include Smithman, Smithson and Smithfield (see below).[15] Athersmith may derive from at the Smith.[16]
Other variations focus on specialisms within the profession; for example Blacksmith, from those who worked predominantly with iron, Whitesmith, from those who worked with tin (and the more obvious Tinsmith), Brownsmith and Redsmith, from those who worked with copper (Coppersmith and Greensmith; copper is green when oxidised), Silversmith and Goldsmith – and those based on the goods produced, such as Hammersmith, Bladesmith, Naismith (nail-smith), Arrowsmith which in turn was shortened to Arsmith,[17] or Shoesmith (referring to horseshoes).[15] Sixsmith is a variant spelling of a sickle- or scythe-smith.[18] Wildsmith in turn is a corruption of wheelsmith[19]
The patronymic practice of attaching son to the end of a name to indicate that the bearer is the child of the original holder has also led to the surnames Smithson and Smisson. Historically, "Smitty" has been a common nickname given to someone with the surname, Smith; in some instances, this usage has passed into "Smitty" being used as a surname itself.[20]
Other languages
editSurnames relating to smiths and blacksmiths are found across the world. When relevant, transliterations are included in parentheses and italicised, and adaptations (i.e. anglicisations or gallicisations) in brackets. Additionally, brief etymologies are noted if a name used in a certain language derives from another language.
Germanic
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Smit, Smidt |
| Danish | Smed, Smidt (from German) |
| Dutch | Smit, Smits, Smid, Smidt |
| Flemish | De Smedt, Desmedt, De Smet, Desmet, Smets |
| Frisian | Smid |
| German | Kowalitz (from Slavic); Schmidt, Schmied,[11] Schmiedel, Schmieden |
| Limburgish | Smeets |
| Luxembourgish | Schmit, Schmitz |
| Yiddish | שמידט (Schmidt), שמיט (Schmitt), שמיץ (Schmitz) |
Romance
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Catalan | Ferrer, Ferré, Farré, Fabra |
| French | Favre, Faber, Favret |
| Galician | Ferreiro, Ferreira |
| Italian | Ferraro |
| Norman | Lefebvre, Lefèvre |
| Occitan | Fabre, Fabré, Faure, Fauré, Dufaure |
| Portuguese | Ferreira, Ferreiro |
| Romanian | Feraru, Fieraru; Covaci, Covalciuc, Covaliov, Covali, Coval (from Slavic) |
| Spanish | Herrero, Herrera, Ferrera, Ferrero |
Celtic
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Breton | ar Gov [Le Goff], ar Govig [Le Goffic] |
| Cornish | an Gov [Angove, Goff, Goffe]; [Trengove] |
| Irish | Mac Gabhann [McGowan, MacGowan, McGouran][21] |
| Scottish Gaelic | Gobha [Gow]; Mac a' Ghobhainn [McGowan, MacGowan, McGavin],[21] common in Elgin, Moray, and Galloway[22] |
| Welsh | Gof [Goff], common in East Anglia in England[23] |
Slavic
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Belarusian | Кавалевіч (Kavalevich), Кавалёў (Kavalyow), Кавалёнак (Kavalyonak), Кавальчук (Kavalchuk), Кавалюк (Kavalyuk), Коваль (Koval) |
| Bosnian | Kovač, Kovačić, Kovačević; Demirdžić (from Ottoman Turkish) |
| Bulgarian | Ковачевски (Kovačevski), Ковачев (Kovachev), Ковачино (Kovachino) |
| Croatian | Kovač, Kovačić, Kovačević, Kovačev, Kovačec, Kovaček |
| Czech | Kovář, Kovařík; Šmíd (from German); Šmicer (from Bavarian) |
| Kashubian | Kowalski, Kowalewski |
| Macedonian | Ковачевски (Kovačevski), Ковачев (Kovačev) |
| Polish | Kowal, Kowalewicz, Kowalski, Kowalik, Kowalczyk, Kowalewski, Kuźniar, Kuźniarski; Szmidt (from German) |
| Russian | Ковалевич (Kovalevich), Ковалёв (Kovalyov), Ковальков (Kovalkov), Ковалевский (Kovalevskiy), Кузнецкий (Kuznetskiy), Кузнецов (Kuznetsov), Кузнецовский (Kuznetsovskiy), Кузнечевский (Kuznechevskiy), Кузнеченко (Kuznechenko), Кузнеченков (Kuznechenkov), Кузнечихин (Kuznechikhin); Шмидов (Shmidov) (from German or Yiddish) |
| Rusyn | Ковалькевич (Kovalkevich), Ковалёвич (Kovalyovich), Кузняк (Kuzniak) |
| Serbian | Ковачевић (Kovačević), Ковач (Kovač), Ковачев (Kovačev) |
| Slovak | Kováč, Kováčik, Kovačovič, Kovalík |
| Slovene | Kovač, Kovačič |
| Ukrainian | Ковалевич (Kovalevych), Коваленко (Kovalenko), Ковальчук (Kovalchuk), Коваль (Koval), Ковальков (Kovalkov), Ковалевський (Kovalevskyi), Ковалюк (Kovalyuk) |
| Upper Sorbian | Kowar, Kowarjec |
Other European
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Albanian | Nallbani |
| Basque | Arotza |
| Estonian | Sepp |
| Finnish | Seppä, Seppälä, Seppänen |
| Greek | Σιδεράς (Sideras) |
| Hungarian | Kovács (from Slavic), Koufax (corruption) |
| Latvian | Kalējs; Šmits (from German) |
| Lithuanian | Kalvaitis, Kavaliauskas; Kovalskis (from Slavic) |
South Asian
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Bengali | কর্মকার (Karmakar) |
| Hindi | लोहार (Lohar) |
| Kannada | ಕಮ್ಮಾರ (Kammara) |
| Malayalam | കമ്മാരൻ (Kammaaran) |
| Nepali | कामी (Kami) |
| Oriya | କମାର (Kamara) |
| Punjabi | ਲੁਹਾਰ (Lohar) |
| Sanskrit | अयस्काम (Ayaskama), कर्मार (Karmara), लोहकार (Lohakara), व्योकार (Vyokara) |
| Tamil | கம்மாளர் (Kammalar) |
| Telugu | కమ్మరి (Kammari) |
Other
edit| Language | Surnames |
|---|---|
| Arabic | حداد (Haddad) |
| Azerbaijani | Dəmirçi |
| Aramaic | Haddad |
| Armenian | Դարբինյան (Darbinyan, Tarpinyan, ), Գումուչեան (Gumuchian) |
| Balinese | Pande |
| Bataknese | Sitepu |
| Chinese | 铁 (Tie) |
| Georgian | მჭედლიძე (Mchedlidze), მჭედლიშვილი (Mchedlishvili) |
| Hebrew | חדד (Haddad) |
| Japanese | 鍛冶屋 (Kajiya) |
| Kazakh | Tömirshi |
| Lingala | Motuli |
| Median | Esmi[citation needed] |
| Minahasa | Marentek |
| Persian | زرگر (Zargar) |
| Syriac | ܚܕܕܐ (Hadodo, Hadad, Haddad)[11] |
| Tatar | Tümerche |
| Turkish | Demirci |
| Uyghur | Tömürchi |
See also
editReferences
editCitations
edit- ^ a b Services, Good Stuff IT. "Smith surname meaning, origin, etymology and distribution in Great Britain". Britishsurnames.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "1990 Census Name Files". 30 March 2005. Archived from the original on 30 March 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "SMITH — Surname Meaning and Origin". Genealogy.about.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "UK surnames ranking". Surname Map of UK.
- ^ "Genealogy — Frequently Occurring Surnames From Census 2000". 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ Citation: Brooke, 2006.
- ^ Franklin Carter Smith, Emily Anne Crom, A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors (2009), pp. 109–110.
- ^ United States Census Bureau. "[1]". 27 December 2016. Accessed 3 November 2019.
- ^ "Surname Profiler". Ucl.ac.uk. 18 January 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ a b Bardsley. English and Welsh Surnames. 1901.
- ^ a b c Citation: Anderson, 1863.
- ^ Citation: Simpson, 2007.
- ^ Smith, Marian Louise (20 January 2006). "American Names / Declaring Independence". United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Archived from the original on 31 January 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2005.
- ^ a b Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.
- ^ a b c d Citation: Lower, 1860.
- ^ "Surname Database: Athersmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "Surname Database: Arsmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "Surname Database: Sixsmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "Surname Database: Wildsmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ Elsdon Coles Smith, The Book of Smith (1979), p. 195, ISBN 0399503935.
- ^ a b "Mcgowan Name Meaning & Mcgowan Family History at Ancestry.com". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ Cowan, Edward James; Henderson, Lizanne (6 June 2011). A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland, 1000 to 1600. Edinburgh University Press. doi:10.1515/9780748629503. ISBN 978-0-7486-2950-3.
- ^ "Goff Name Meaning & Goff Family History at Ancestry.com". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
Bibliography
edit- Anderson, William (1863). The Scottish Nation (Volume 3: MAC to ZET). Edinburgh: A. Fullerton & Co. p. 479. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
- Bardsley, Charles Wareing (1901). English and Welsh Surnames. London: Henry Frowde. p. 699. ISBN 0-8063-0022-1. Retrieved 3 March 2008. The section heading referenced here reads "Smith, Smyth, Smythe", suggesting these to be the most common variants at the time (1901).
- "Surname Map for Smith in Britain, Ireland and Mann" (map). CelticFamilyMaps.com. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- Brooke, Bob (31 December 2006). "The Mighty Smiths: Dealing With Common Surnames". Everyday Genealogy. Genealogy Today, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
- CBC News (26 July 2007). "Common surnames". News in Depth. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
- Cottle, Basil (1967). Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books.
- Dorward, David (1998). Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition).
- Geoghegan, Eddie (26 May 2006). "Smith coat of arms and family history". Araltas.com. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
At the outset it is important to mention that the spelling of the name as Smith, Smyth, Smithe, Smythe, etc. is of little historical significance. The use of "i" and "y" and the presence or absence of the terminal "e" merely reflect the writing styles of the day.
- "How Many of Me?". HowManyofMe.com. Archived from the original (database search result) on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
There are 3,053,623 people in the U.S. with the last name Smith.
- Lower, Mark Antony (1860). Patronymica Britannica: A Dictionary of the Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russell Smith. pp. 319–321. ISBN 978-0-7884-0456-6. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
- O'Kane, Willie (1998). "Surnames of County Monaghan". Irish Roots. 26 (2nd quarter). Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
...certain members of the MacGabhann and O Gabhan septs, usually Anglicised as McGowan, took the name Smith on the basis of the name Mac Gobha, 'son of the smith'.
The URL here is to a reprint on the Irish Ancestors website. Tables of contents for back issues of Irish Roots Magazine are found at https://web.archive.org/web/20091217104309/http://irishroots.ie/Back%20Issues%20List.htm and there are two listings for the title here, one in 'Issue No. 26 (1998 Second quarter)', the other in 'Issue No. 48 (2003 Fourth quarter)'. It is not clear whether the latter is a simple reprint of the former or an update. The reprinted article notes 'From Irish Roots, (No. 28)'. - Simpson, David (30 January 2007). "Surnames of North East England". The North East England History Pages. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
- Smith, Elsdon C. (1997). American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company.
- "Smith surname at YourNotMe". YourNotMe.com. Archived from the original (database search result) on 11 November 2006. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
- US Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved 25 February 2008.
Further reading
edit- Origin and History of the Name of Smith, With Biographies of All the Most Noted Persons of That Name, And an Account of the Origin of Surnames and Forenames, Together with over Five Hundred Christian Names of Men and Women and Their Significance, The Crescent Family Record. Chicago, Illinois: American Publishers’ Association. 1902. OCLC 181292526 – via Internet Archive.
External links
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Definitions from Wiktionary
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