Smith (surname)

For a list of people with this surname, see List of people with surname Smith.

Smith
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
MeaningFrom smitan (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]

  1. ^ a b 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. "[1]". 27 December 2016. Accessed 3 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Surname Profiler". Ucl.ac.uk. 18 January 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  10. ^ Bardsley. English and Welsh Surnames. 1901.
  11. ^ Citation: Anderson, 1863.