Smith (surname)

Last updated

Smith
Blacksmith at work02.jpg
A close-up of a blacksmith at work. Smith became a popular last name for those with this occupation
Pronunciation /ˈsmɪθ/
Origin
Word/nameOld English
Meaningderived from smitan, meaning "to smite"
Region of originEngland
Other names
Variant form(s) numerous
[1] [2]

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]

Contents

Etymology and history

The 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]

Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island; some chose more "American" surnames, like "Smith", on arrival Ellis island 1902.jpg
Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island; some chose more "American" surnames, like "Smith", on arrival

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

Variations of the surname Smith also remain very common. These include different spellings of the English name, and versions in other languages.

English variations

There 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

Surnames 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

LanguageSurnames
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
Alemannic: Schmid, Schmied, Schmed
Bavarian: Schmid, Schmidl, Schmied, Schmitt, Schmitzer
Franconian: Schmitt, Schmitz, Schmich
Low German: Schmidt, Schmidtke, Schmick
Limburgish Smeets
Luxembourgish Schmit, Schmitz
Yiddish שמידט (Schmidt), שמיט (Schmitt), שמיץ (Schmitz)

Romance

LanguageSurnames
Catalan Ferrer, Ferré, Farré, Fabra
French Favre, Faber, Favret
Northern: Lefebvre, Lefèvre, Lefébure
Western: Lefeuvre
Galician Ferreiro, Ferreira
Italian Ferraro
Northern: Fabbro, Fabris, Ferrari, Ferrero
Central: Fabbri
Southern: Ferrara, Ferrera
Norman Lefebvre, Lefèvre
Anglo-Norman: Lefebvre [ Feaver ], Ferror [ Farrar, Farrer, Ferrar, Farrow ]
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

LanguageSurnames
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 [lower-alpha 1] ] [21]
Welsh Gof [ Goff [lower-alpha 2] ] [22]

Slavic

LanguageSurnames
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

LanguageSurnames
Albanian Nallbani
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

LanguageSurnames
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

LanguageSurnames
Arabic حداد ( Haddad )
Azerbaijani Dəmirçi
Aramaic Haddad
Armenian Դարբինյան ( Darbinyan, Tarpinyan)
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

Notes

  1. Elgin and Galloway
  2. common in East Anglia in England

Related Research Articles

A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as sliocht, meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person. The word may derive from the Latin saeptum, meaning "enclosure" or "fold", or via an alteration of "sect".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akins</span> Scottish surname and northern Irish family name

Akins is a Scottish surname and northern Irish family name.

Quayle is a surname of Anglo-Celtic origin, specifically English, Irish, Manx and Scottish.

Davis is a surname of English and Welsh origin. As an English surname it may be a corruption of Davy or a reference to King David in the Old Testament. As a Welsh surname may be a corruption of Dyfed, related to Irish colonists who occupied an area of southwest Wales in the late third century and established a dynasty there which lasted five centuries. Dyfed is recorded as a surname as late as the twelfth century, e.g. Gwynfard Dyfed, born 1175. Dafydd appears as a given name in the thirteenth century, e.g. Dafydd ap Gruffydd (1238–1283), Prince of Wales, and Dafydd ab Edmwnd, a Welsh poet. Alternatively, Davis may be a patronymic surname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smyth baronets</span> Baronetcy in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom

There have been six baronetcies created for persons with the surname Smyth, two in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain, one in the Baronetage of Ireland and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2010.

There has been one creation of baronet with the surname Smythe. It was created in the Baronetage of England for Edward Smythe on 23 February 1661.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas (surname)</span> Surname list

Christmas is an uncommon English-language surname. The origin is uncertain; some genealogy books state that it was given to people born near Christmas, while this is disputed by researchers, and DNA tests performed on men with the surname show that the majority of those descend from a common ancestor. Others suggest it was given to people who organised Christmas festivities, or has a Norman origin. Most prominent in Southern England, various notable people from around the world have had the surname, and it has been given to a number of fictional characters. The William Faulkner character Joe Christmas, from Light in August, has a much-discussed name. The blood disorder Christmas disease or haemophilia B was first described in a boy with the surname and is observed in other people of the name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCabe (surname)</span> Surname list

The surnames McCabe and MacCabe are Irish and Scottish surnames. McCabes are considered to have moved from the Western Isles of Scotland to Ireland sometime around 1350. McCabes are now found mostly in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Spencer is a surname, representing the court title dispenser, or steward. An early example is Robert d'Abbetot, who is listed as Robert le Dispenser, a tenant-in-chief of several counties, in the Domesday Book of 1086. In early times, the surname was usually written as le Despenser, Dispenser or Despencer—notably in works such as the Domesday Book and the Scottish Ragman Rolls of 1291 and 1296, but gradually lost both the "le" article and the unstressed first syllable of the longer surname to become Spencer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moore (surname)</span> English-language family name

Moore is a common English-language surname. It was the 19th most common surname in Ireland in 1901 with 15,417 members. It is the 34th most common surname in Australia, 32nd most common in England, and was the 16th most common surname in the United States in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smyth</span> Surname list

Smyth is an early variant of the common surname Smith commonly found in Ireland. Shown below are notable people who share the surname "Smyth".

Jones is a surname of Welsh and English origin meaning "son of John". The surname is common in Wales. It evolved from variations of traditionally Welsh names: Ieuan, Iowan, Ioan, Iwan, or even Siôn. The sound generated from ‘Si-’ in Siôn is a Welsh approximation of the English ‘J’ sound that does not exist natively to the language, equivalent to the English ‘Sh’ such as in “shed.”

Ferrer is a common surname in Catalan, ranked 35th in Catalonia and was listed as 1,648th most common surname in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Americans</span> Americans of English birth or descent

English Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2020 United States census, English Americans were the largest group in the United States with 46.5 million Americans self-identifying as having some English origins representing (19.8%) of the White American population. This includes 25,536,410 (12.5%) who were "English alone". Despite them being the largest self-identified ancestral origin in the United States, demographers still regard the number of English Americans as an undercount. As most English Americans are the descendants of settlers who first arrived during the colonial period which began over 400 years ago, many Americans are either unaware of this heritage or choose to elect a more recent known ancestral group even if English is their primary ancestry.

'Kadiyala' is the surname of those belonging to the Kamma caste. People belonging to the Kadiyala group are mostly from East Godavari district, West Godavari district, Chittoor district, the areas of Mustabad, Katuru, and Gudivada in the Krishna district and Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.

Fay is an Irish surname that also arose independently in France. There are different theories about the origin and meaning of the surname.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall (given name)</span> Name list

Randall is a masculine given name in English, Irish and German. Its modern use as a given name originates from the transferred use of the English–language surname Randall, which in turn is derived from Randolph.

The anglicisation of personal names is the change of non-English-language personal names to spellings nearer English sounds, or substitution of equivalent or similar English personal names in the place of non-English personal names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winder (surname)</span> Surname list

Winder is a surname originating from England seen primarily in the United Kingdom and the English-speaking nations, but also in some places in mainland Europe, particularly Austria.

Ó hÁdhmaill is a Gaelic Irish clan from Ulster. The name is now rendered in many forms, most commonly Hamill. The clan are a branch of Cenél nEógain, belonging to the Uí Néill; they claim descent from Eochu Binneach, the son of Eógan mac Néill. Their descendants in Ireland are found predominantly across Ulster, and County Louth, Leinster.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Services, Good Stuff IT. "Smith surname meaning, origin, etymology and distribution in Great Britain". Britishsurnames.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  2. "1990 Census Name Files". 30 March 2005. Archived from the original on 30 March 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. "SMITH — Surname Meaning and Origin". Genealogy.about.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  4. "UK surnames ranking". Surname Map of UK.
  5. "Genealogy — Frequently Occurring Surnames From Census 2000". 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  6. Citation: Brooke, 2006.
  7. Franklin Carter Smith, Emily Anne Crom, A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors (2009), pp. 109–110.
  8. United States Census Bureau. "". 27 December 2016. Accessed 3 November 2019.
  9. "Surname Profiler". Ucl.ac.uk. 18 January 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  10. 1 2 Bardsley. English and Welsh Surnames. 1901.
  11. 1 2 3 Citation: Anderson, 1863.
  12. Citation: Simpson, 2007.
  13. USCIS Home Page Archived 22 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  14. 1 2 Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Citation: Lower, 1860.
  16. "Surname Database: Athersmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  17. "Surname Database: Arsmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  18. "Surname Database: Sixsmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  19. "Surname Database: Wildsmith Last Name Origin". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  20. Elsdon Coles Smith, The Book of Smith (1979), p. 195, ISBN   0399503935.
  21. 1 2 "Mcgowan Name Meaning & Mcgowan Family History at Ancestry.com". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  22. "Goff Name Meaning & Goff Family History at Ancestry.com". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.

Bibliography