Smith is an occupational surname - the smith - common to every village in England, north, south, east and west. The name Smyth is the almost invariable spelling in early rolls, so that it cannot exactly be styled a modern affection. There are 300,000 Smiths in England (1901); very different from the state of Israel, when there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel. Early renderings include:

• Philip le Smethe, Co. Hunts, 1273. Assizes
• William le Smethe, Co. Oxford, 1273. Assizes
• William le Smyth, Co. Sussex, 1273. Assizes

The following occur on one single page of a 1379 Poll Tax, representing the village of Kimbleworth:

• Johannes Tagge, smyght
• Willelmus Smyght
• Johannes Trogne, smyght
• Ricardus Sawdre, smyght
• Robertus Smyght
• Johannes Losseland, smyght

From the occupation.

"For, since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations,

Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the people."

— Longfellow, Evangeline.

"For more than 400 years a family of Smith, first as kindly tenants, and afterwards as lairds, were settled in the parish of Strathblane at Craigend. . The tradition of the family is that when surnames came into use they took their name from their occupation of the smiths and armourers of the Barony of Mugdock" (Strathendrick, p. xvii). In Latin documents the name is rendered by Faber and Ferro. Adam Faber held a croft on the lands of Swaynystoun, c. 1221—34 (Soltre, p. 23), and William faber de Karel was a witness, c. 1250 (May, p. 38). Robert the smith (ferro) witnessed a charter by John, bishop of Dunkeld, c. 1199 (Inchaffray, p. 5). William the Smith was juror on an inquest made at Traquair, 1274 (Bain, II, 34), Alan Smyth was one of the 'Gustatores Ceruisie' in Aberdeen, 1398 (CRA., p. 375), Thomas Smyth, Scotsman, had safe conduct into England in same year, and Patrick Smyth of Scotland was to be kept in custody in the Tower of London, 1401 (Bain, IV, 504,594). John Smyth was tenant of the 'Fabrile de Inveryalder,' 1539 (ER., XVII, p. 660), and Elizabeth Smythe and Margaret Smythe were heirs portioners of Alexander Smythe in Greinholme, 1621 (Retours, Ayr, 209,210). Prof. Alexander Smith (b. 1865), head of the department of chemistry in Columbia University, New York City, was born in Edinburgh. Smeayth 1661, Smyith 1453, Smyithe 1607, Smytht 1511.Stolen from Fore-bears

Middle English forms of Smith, q.v.

William le Smyth.—Hund. Rolls, A.D. 1274.

W. Smythe et alii.—Cal. Inq. ad q. Damn., A.D. 1315-16.

Wher þis is not a smyþ, þe sone of Marie ...?—St. Mark, vi. 3: Wycliffe.

Hys sworde upon the schireff hed Sertanly he brake in too : ‘The smyth that the made’, seid Robyn, ‘I pray God wyrke him woo’.—Robyn Hode and the Munke, 113-16.

When not the name of an English settler family Smith is usually a synonym of MacGowan q.v.-nearly always so in Co. Gavan. App. Infra

(English) The worker in metals. This is the old spelling of the name.

In entering upon the illustration of this surname, I feel almost overcome with the magnitude of my subject. Closely connected as it is with the personal identity of thousands upon thousands of my countrymen, enjoying as it does the proud pre-eminence of being the commonest of all English surnames, and associated as it must be with statistics, with anecdote, with archaeology, with varieties of orthography, the name of Smith is a topic which requires no common handling. Why, it demands a separate essay, a dissertation, a volume, to do it anything like justice! Nay, I am not quite sure that a new science to be designated Smithology would not prove quite as instructive as many existing ologies, while it would have the merit of being perhaps more amusing; assuredly it would come home both to "the business and bosoms" of a vast section of Englishmen. And I might go further afield and trace out the history of smith-craft from the days of Tubal-Cain-expatiate upon the labours of Vulcan, of Icarus, of Wayland Smith, and of St. Dunstan-show how men lived in the Iron Age-bring in the classical Fabri, and Fabricii, the Schmidts of Germany, the Lefevres of France, the Fabbroni of Italy, and the Gowana of Scotland, as members of this mighty race-and deal largely in irony and "smith's-work in general." But space forbids, and I must be as brief as possible. Let us first hammer out the archaeology of the subject. The word smith, then, is Anglo-Saxon from smitan, to smite-originally, "any one who strikes or smites with a hammer, an artificer, a carpenter, smith, workman." Boaworth. So general was the application of the word, that in the Saxon Chronicle we find the expression "mighty war-smiths" applied to valorous soldiers, and the great enemy of mankind is called "hell-smith," though this phrase, being also applied to Vulcan, has probably a direct reference to "smithery" in the modern sense. One who worked in iron was called iren-smith, an ironsmith. In later times, Smith was applied more specifically to a worker in metals, while myrhta, Wright, was the name given to artificers in wood and other materials. See Wright.

An old orthography of Smith.

A worker in metals. The name is written Smyth, and Smythe. Some of the families of Smith are descended from Neil Cromb, third son of Murdoch, Chief of Clan Chattan, temp. William the Lion.

The most common of all surnames, and might of itself furnish matter enough for a volume. The word is derived from the Anglo—Saxon Smitan, to smite or strike.

"From whence comes Smith, all be he knight or squire,

But from the Smith that forgeth at the fire?"

VERSTEGAN.

Among the Highland clans, the smith ranked third in dignity to the chief, from his skill in fabricating military weapons, and his dexterity in teaching the use of them.

In Wales there were three sciences which a villain (tenant) could not teach his son without the consent of his lord, Scholarship, Bardism, and Smithcraft. This was one of the liberal sciences, and the term had a more comprehensive sense than we give to it at this time. The smith must have united in this profession, different branches of knowledge which are now practiced separately, such as raising the ore, converting it into metal, etc.

The term was originally applied to artificers in wood as well as metal, in fact, to all mechanical workmen, which accounts for the great frequency of the name.

The New York City Directory for 1856 (in which the names of the heads of families only, are given.) contains the names of more than eighteen hundred Smiths, of whom seventy—four are plain James Smiths, and one hundred and seventeen, John Smiths!

We see in the papers, that John Smith dies, is married, hanged, drowned, and brutally murdered, daily! John Smith doesn't identify anybody, and is therefore no name at all.

This numerous family is the subject of many laughable anecdotes and witty sallies. A wag, on a certain occasion, coming late to the theater, and wishing to get a seat, shouted at the top of his voice, "Mr. Smith's house is on fire!"The house was thinned five per cent., and the man of humor found a snug seat.

In many neighborhoods the name is so frequent that it is necessary to append some soubriquet to identify the person.

"Can yon tell me where Mr, Smith lives, mister?" "Smith—Smith—what Smith? there are a good many of that name in these parts—my name is Smith." "Why, I don't know his t'other name, but he's a sour, crabbed sort of fellow, and they call him 'Crab Smith. '" "Oh, the deuce! s'pose I'm the man."

But the best piece of humor relating to the name is the following which we take from Lower, which appeared some years since in the newspapers, under the title of

"The Smiths.

"Some very learned disquisitions are just now going on in the journals touching the origin and extraordinary extension of the family of 'the Smiths."

"Industrious explorers after derivatives and nominal roots, they say, would find in the name of John Smith a world of mystery; and a philologist in the Providence Journal, after having written some thirty columns for the enlightenment of the public thereanent, has thrown down his pen, and declared the subject exhaustless.

"From what has hitherto been discovered, it appears that the great and formidable family of the Smiths are the veritable descendants, in a direct line, from Shem, the son of Noah, the father of the Shemitish tribe, or the tribe of Shem; and it is thus derived—Shem, Shemit, Shmit, Smith. Another learned pundit, in the Philadelphia Gazette, contends for the universality of the name John Smith, not only in Great Britain and America, but among all kindred and nations on the face of the earth. Beginning with the Hebrew, he says, the Hebrews had no Christian names, consequently they had no Johns, and in Hebrew the name stood simply Shem or Shemit; but in the other nations John Smith is found at full, one and indivisible. Thus, Latin, Johannes Smithius; Italian, Giovanni Smithi; Spanish, Juan Smithas; Dutch, Hans Schmidt; French, Jean Smeets; Greek, 'Ιου Σκμίτου; Russian, Jonloff Skmittowski; Polish, Ivan Schmittiwciski; Chinese, Jahon Shimmit; Icelandic, Jahne Smithson; Welsh, Iihon Schmidd; Tuscarora, Ton Qa Smittia; Mexican, Jonth F'Smitti.Stolen from Fore-bears

"And then, to prove the antiquity of the name, the same savant observes, that 'among the cartouches deciphered by Rosselini, on the temple of Osiris in Egypt, was found the name of Pharaoh Smithosis, being the ninth in the eighteenth dynasty of Theban kings. He was the founder of the celebrated temple of Smithopolis Magna. ' We heartily congratulate the respectable multitude of the Smiths on these profound researches—researches which bid fair to explode the generally received opinion that the great family of the Smiths were the descendants of mere horse—shoers and hammer—men!"Stolen from Fore-bears

Smith. —This familiar name is universally distributed, but its relative frequency varies greatly in different parts of England. It is least frequent in the three south - west counties of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, where, it may be truly said, the Smiths do not flourish. It is also similarly infrequent in Wales. Its great home is in Worcestershire and in the adjacent counties of Gloucester, Warwick, and Stafford. It is also very numerous in Essex, in the east of England. In the extreme north it is rather less frequent; but it extends in numbers across the border, and is established over the greater part of Scotland, being most numerous in the counties south of the Forth and the Clyde. If we divide England into three parts by two lines, joining the Thames with the Severn, and the Wash with the Dee, we shall observe that the Smiths are most numerous in the middle division, less frequent in the northern division, and least numerous in the south.

Entire books have been written about the great English name of Smith. In origin this is an occupational name and comes from the Old English word ‘smith’ meaning ‘a metal-worker’. In this form it has remained unchanged for over 1,000 years, apart from the spelling variations of Smyth or Smythe. However, occasionally the name Smythe will in fact be a location name, deriving from Smithy. Thus it would mean ‘dweller at the smithy’.

The surname Smith has also frequently become double-barrelled, as for example in Robinson-Smith. The partner name in this case would have its own entirely separate deri­vation; it would usually be adapted from an indirect female line. Other variations on this name derive from specific trades-such as Brownsmith (meaning ‘copper or brass-smith’), or Greensmith (for ‘coppersmith’-the green referring either to the patina of copper, or to the colour of the flame when it is worked), Arrowsmith and Goldsmith. London’s borough of Hammersmith is named after a forge-a ‘hammer-smithy’.

Besides being easily the most popular name in England, Smith is also the most popular in Scotland, and in the United States (where the name will frequently have been anglicised from foreign sources, such as the German Schmidt). In Wales, however, Smith comes second to its greatest rival, Jones.

Besides the previously mentioned German form, there are also many other foreign versions of Smith. Some of the most widespread of these are Lefèvre (the French form), Kovac (in Slavonic languages), Haddad (in Hebrew), or Faber (from the Latin). Once again, these are only the simple forms and, like our English Smith, they also have their compound forms. The lesser-known examples are the French Orfèvre (goldsmith) and the German variation Messerschmidt (knifesmith).

Early examples of the name Smith were sometimes Latinised in the records to Faber. This name appears in the records from the 1066 Domesday Book onwards. However, the surname Smith has appeared in all records from the very earliest times and pre-dates the Domesday Book. The first reference comes in the Annals for Durham in AD 975, where one Ecceard Smith is mentioned.

One enterprising branch of the Smith family have blazoned the name on hundreds of British high streets. W.H. Smith (1792—1865) took over his father’s small news-stand in 1816 and later, helped by his son-also named William Henry (1825—91), expanded the business into the largest such enterprise in Great Britain, with over 300 outlets and 20,000 employees. The younger W.H. became an MP in 1868 and served as, amongst other things, First Lord of the Admiralty (1877). He was affectionately nicknamed ‘Old Morality’ by Punch and was the butt of the famous line, ‘Now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Nav-ee’ in Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1878 operetta HMS Pinafore.

Fiery-tempered British general, Sir Harry Smith (1787—1860), was Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner of South Africa from 1847 to 1852. During his colourful career he took part in the Peninsular War, witnessed with horror the burning of Washington DC during the War of 1812, and fought at Waterloo. Transferred to Cape Colony during the Cape Frontier War, he made an historic ride, galloping the 600 miles from Cape Town to Grahamstown in under six days, to tell terrified colonists that help was on the way. It is his wife whose memory is recalled by the town of Ladysmith in Natal.

The massive Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC was founded by the bequest of over £100,000 ‘to the United States of America for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men’ by English scientist James Smithson (1765— 1829), illegitimate son of Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland. He apparently made the bequest out of bitterness, writing, ‘My name shall live in the memory of man when the title of the Northumberlands are extinct and forgotten.’ One of the best-known of all Smiths was Sydney Smith (1771—1845). Lord Macaulay called him the ‘Smith of Smiths’, Abraham Lincoln quoted him frequently, Charles Dickens named a son after him, and even Queen Victoria found him amusing. Clergyman, wit and essayist, Smith was lauded in his lifetime as the greatest master of trenchant ridicule since Jonathan Swift and Voltaire, although he lacked their vitriol. For a quarter of a century he deflated pomposity and exposed hypocrisy as he fought for parliamentary reform and for emancipation of Catholics. Eventually made a canon of St Paul’s, he invented the still-common expression for a misfit: ‘a square peg in a round hole’. This master of quotable quotes once summed up his life by saying he had spent it like a razor, ‘in hot water or a scrape’.

The geographical centre of the United States lies in Smith County, Kansas.

Joseph Smith (1805—44), founder of the Mormon Church, claimed that an angel had presented him with golden plates and a book written in hieroglyphics which he translated with the aid of magic stones and had published as The Book of the Mormon. Having led his followers from New York State to Illinois, Smith claimed personal divinity and ruled with an iron hand until his plans to introduce polygamy caused violence and led to his arrest. While in goal he was killed by an angry mob.

London’s major meat market, Smithfield, north of St Paul’s, was long famous for its cattle sales. In the time of Mary Tudor it was the place where heretics were burnt at the stake. It takes its name from the Old English word smethe, meaning ‘smooth’.

Donald Alexander Smith, Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, served as High Commissioner for Canada from 1896 and at one time controlled both the Great Northern and the Canadian Pacific railways.

English-born Assyriologist George Smith (1840—76) achieved world-wide fame in 1872 by his translation of fragments of Chaldean tablets in the British Museum which described The Flood. Public interest ran so high that a London paper financed an expedition to search for the missing fragment. On the fifth day of digging Smith found it-an almost miraculous stroke of luck. His Chaldean Account was a nineteenth-century best-seller.

Smith-related places and geographic features are popular but not nearly as dominating as the surname itself. The United Kingdom has 6 towns with related names-Smith Green, Smithsfield, Smithincott, Smithston, Smithstown and Smithy Houses. Canada has a Smith, a Smithers and a Smithtown; Australia a Smithton; South Africa a Smithfield; and there’s a Smith in Argentina. The United States has 26 related-name towns-all are relatively small. Related-name geographic features are common.

With about 837,000 namesakes Smith is the most popular surname in England and Wales. There are over 69,000 Smiths in Scotland where it is also the most popular name. In Ireland it is estimated that with about 36,000, Smith is the 5th most popular surname. Smith is notably popular in and around Leicester where an estimated one in about 55 families bears the name. In descending numerical order Nottingham, Birmingham and Coventry are other Smith strongholds. Around the world Smiths are most common in Durban (one in 109 families), Sydney (one in 110) and Auckland (one in 133).

The United States has more Smiths than the entire population of West Yorkshire-an estimated total of just over 2,501,000 makes this their most popular surname.