Smith (surname)

Smith is the most common family name in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, representing more than 1 out of every 100 persons in each of these countries. It is particularly prevalent among those of English descent, but has often been taken by non-English natives or immigrants to the above countries in order to blend into the majority culture more easily.

Derivation

The name originally derives from smitan, the Anglo-Saxon term meaning to smite or strike. This term led to the name of the occupation, smith or blacksmith, because such persons must continuously strike metal with a hammer in order to shape it. Metallurgy required the development of specialist skills, and was practiced throughout the world from the Bronze Age. The use of Smith as an occupational surname dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when inherited surnames were still unknown: Ecceard Smith of Durham County was recorded in 975.[1]

Although the name is derived from a common occupation, many later Smiths had no connection to that occupation, but adopted or were given the surname precisely because of its commonness. For example:

• Following the failed Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland, which began around 1715, many Scots adopted the last name Smith to disguise their connection with rebellious clans. To this day, it is not uncommon for persons in English-speaking countries to adopt the surname Smith in order to maintain a secret identity, when they wish to avoid being found by someone.
• During the colonization of North America, some Native Americans took the name for use in dealing with colonists.
• During the period of slavery in the United States, many slaves were known by the surname of their masters, or adopted those surnames upon their emancipation during the Civil War.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, when many new immigrants were entering the U.S., civil servants responsible for catologing 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. Former New York governor, Alfred E. Smith is a famous example of someone whose name derives from such a forced name change.

Variations

Variations of the surname, Smith, also remain common. These include different spellings of the English term, and versions from other countries and cultures.

English variations

Smit , Smithe , Smither , Smithers, Smithies , Smithy, Smyth , and Smythe , are all common variations originating in England. Other variations focus on particular branches within the profession, particularly those based on the materials worked with – Blacksmith, from those who worked predominantely with iron, Whitesmith , from those who worked with tin (and the more obvious Tinsmith ), Brownsmith , from those who worked with copper (and the more obvious Coppersmith), Silversmith, Goldsmith – and those based on the goods produced, such as Hammersmith, Naismith (referring to nails), Arrowsmith or Shoesmith (referring to horseshoes). The surnames Nemeth or Nameth may be shortened forms of Naismith.

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 occurances of the surnames Smithson and Smisson . Another variation, Smithfield, might derives from persons descended from an estate originally named for a Smith – although another source for this name is from natives of an area known for its "smooth field".

Variations from other countries and cultures

• Schmid , Smidt , Schmidt , Schmidtt , Schmitt, Schmitz and Schmied (Germanic)
• De Smid, DeSmedt, DeSmet (Flemish)
• Smit, Smid, Smidt, Smed (Dutch)
• Smidth (Norwegian)
• Skmiton (Greek)
• Smed (Swedish)
• Szmyt (Polish)
• Smid (Czechoslovakian)
• Schmieder (Jewish)

Translations

Other languages with different words for the occupation of smith also produced surnames based on that derivation. For example, the Latin term for smith, Faber (also the root of the word "fabricate"), is also the root of last names common in several parts of Europe. For example, the Italian version, Farrier, is the root from which family names such as Fabbri, Fabris, Feffaro and Ferrari are derived. This is also the root of many French surnames, such as Faure, Ferrier, Ferron, Lefebvre, Le Fevers, and Lefevere, and the Spanish surname, Herrera.

In Ireland and Wales, the word for smith, gobha, is prevelant in names like Goff , Gough, Gowan and MacGabhann (anglicised as McGowan ), the latter based on Mac Gobha (literally 'son of the smith'). [2]

Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Russian translations all similarly derive from a common root referring to the metalworking occupation, producing surnames such as Kovar, Kowal, and its patronymic Kowalski, and Kovac , and its patronymic Kovacic , Koval , Kuznetsov, Covaciu and Kovacs .

'Smiths' in fiction

The commonness of the surname Smith has led to some interesting fictional depictions of characters by that name. In the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart plays the character of Jefferson Smith, perhaps the ultimate everyman stand-up guy – a scout leader who is appointed to the United States Senate, where he is confronted with corruption, and refuses to get drawn into it. The protagonist of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is Winston Smith, who shares his given name with Winston Churchill while his surname points to his mundane everyman status. Agent Smith in the movie The Matrix is an ultimate inhuman villain.

A character appearing in several humorous stories by P. G. Wodehouse is named Psmith (pronounced "Smith"). Psmith decided to spell his name with a "silent P" in order to appear less ordinary.

One John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt appears in an eponymous nursery rhyme and throughout American popular culture.

References

• Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.
• Dorward, David. Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.
• Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.
• All Info About Genealogy - Smith
• Everyday Genealogy - The Mighty Smiths