select.surname.list

Smith is an occupational name for a worker in metal, deriving from the Anglo-Saxon smitan to strike.  This term led to the occupational name because the smith had to strike the metal with a hammer in order to shape it. 

Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required.  Medieval smiths were important not only for making horseshoes, plowshares and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor.  As a result, the name and its equivalents became the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. 

Smith is in fact the leading surname in terms of numbers in both England and America.  "John Smith" has become a generic name for the average man.

Select Smith Resources on The Internet

• Smith Family History Project.  Smiths of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
• The Story of the Smith Family.  The Smith boatmen from Northampton.
• Smith Family History.  Smiths from Derbyshire to the coal mines of the northeast.
• Joseph F. Smith Family Association.  Founder of the Latter Day Saints.

England.  The earliest recorded Smith in England was an Ecceard Smid in Durham in the year 975.   Later Smyths from this county came from Stainton and had descendants who moved to Rosedale abbey in Yorkshire and then to Ireland.

Other prominent early Smiths were from the west country.  John Smyth was a successful 16th century merchant in Bristol who established his family seat at Long Ashton in Somerset.  This house remained with the Smyths until 1946.  Another Smyth family, from Corsham in Wiltshire, was involved through Customer Smyth in the development of the copper trade into south Wales during Elizabethan times. 

There was an early Smith family from Saffron Waldron in Essex which claimed descent from the Black Prince. Sir Thomas Smith of this family was Secretary of State under Queen Elizabeth.  These Smiths of Hill Hall in Essex became, curiously, Smijths and then Smyths. 

The early spellings of Smyth and Smythe have now faded and Smith is dominant.

Scotland.  The name was first recorded in Scotland in the 13th century.   According to legend one clan of Smiths, known as sloich gow chrium (the race of the hunchback smith), originated in Perth a century or so later.  The name soon became widespread in Lowland Scotland.  It was said that many Highland clansfolk adopted the Smith name after the Jacobite defeat to hide their clan asscociation.

Ireland.  The Gaelic name MacGabhann (from the Gaelic word gobha meaning "smith") was often anglicized to Smith.  The Smyth spelling is still common in Belfast and is found elsewhere in Ireland.

America.   One of the first Smiths in America was the explorer and writer John Smith of Jamestown fame. Reportedly saved from execution by the Indian chef's daughter Pocahontas, he went on to help found the state of Virginia. Today the Smith numbers in America are somewhat larger than those in England, having absorbed European Schmidts and other such anglicized names and with many African Americans taking the name as well.

William Smyth was Bishop of Lincoln, a supporter of Henry VII, and the founder of Brasenose College in Oxford.
Adam Smith was a famous 18th century Scottish economist, the author of The Wealth of Nations.
Joseph Smith was the founder of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormon movement).
Donald Alexander Smith was the Scottish-born 19th century fur trader, financer, railroad baron, and politician in Canada.
Ian Smith was Prime Minister of Rhodesiia from 1964 to 1979, the last leader of white monority rule.
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician, a virtuoso on the electric organ.
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the No. 1 Lady Detective Agency series of books.
Will Smith is a popular African American hip hop artist and actor.