Smith

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See also: smith and smiþ

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From smith or Middle English Smith (“a surname”), alternative form of Smyth, itself from smyth (“smith”). Doublet of Schmidt, Smid, and Smit.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Smith (countable and uncountable, plural Smiths)

  1. An English surname originating as an occupation (the most common in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand).
    • 1559, Thomas Lanquet, Thomas Cooper, Robert Crowley, An Epitome of Cronicles‎[1], London: Thomas Marshe:
      Patingham selmonger, who, as it was reported, reneuced the Arians opinion before he dyed. The xvi. daye were burned [at the stake], at Staines. Robert Smith[,] painter, who in the tyme of his imprisonment, wrate byuers thinges in Metre, which were after put in print. At Stortford Stephan Harwoode Alebruer. And at Ware Thomas Fuſſe Jerkenmaker.
    • 1759, Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, pages 360–361:
      This ſyſtem, as it was much eſteemed by many antient fathers of the chriſtian church, ſo after the reformation it was adopted by feveral divines of the moſt eminent piety and learning and of the moſt amiable manners; particularly, by Dr. Ralph Cudworth, by Dr. Henry More, and by Mr. John Smith of Cambridge.
    • 1852 August, D. H. Jacques, “A Chapter on Names”, in The Knickerbocker, or, New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XL, page 114:
      John is a most excellent name, and Smith is a surname which is worthy of respect and honor, but wo to the man on whom they are conjoined! For John Smith to aspire to senatorial dignities or to the laurel of a poet is simply ridiculous. Who is John Smith? He is lost in the multitude of John Smiths, and individual fame is impossible.
    • 1901, Charles Wareing Bardsley, “Smith”, in A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances‎[2], London: Henry Frowde, page 699:
      [Smith is] Common to every village in England, north, south, east, and west. There are 300,000 Smiths in England.
    • 2024, Colin Rogers, The Surname Detective: Investigating Surname Distribution in England Since 1086, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 71:
      Clearly the more numerous the holders of a surname, the more likely it is to be polygenic – that is, having arisen in many different places. In no case discovered, however, is a name evenly distributed among the population, though Smith comes close to it.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. Several places in the United States:
    1. An unincorporated community in LaPorte County, Indiana.
    2. An unincorporated community in Harlan County, Kentucky.
    3. An unincorporated community in York County, South Carolina
    4. A small unincorporated community in Lyon County, Nevada, named for an early settler family.
    5. A ghost town in Humboldt County, California.
      Synonym: Smiths Turnout
    6. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Smith Township.
  4. A hamlet in Alberta, Canada.
  5. Several rivers:
    1. A river in Douglas County, Oregon, United States, a tributary of the Umpqua River.
    2. A river in Montana, United States, a tributary of the Missouri.
    3. A river in Yukon and British Columbia, Canada, a tributary of the Liard River.
    4. A river in Virginia and North Carolina, United States, a tributary of the Dan River.
    5. A river in California, United States, flowing from the Klamath Mountains into the Pacific.
    6. A river in New Hampshire, United States, a tributary of the Pemigewasset River.
    7. A river in Linn County, Oregon, United States, a tributary of the McKenzie River.
    8. A river in Quebec, Canada, a tributary of the Montmorency River.
  6. Smith College (a women's college in Massachusetts, U.S.)

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • ⇒ Translingual: smithi, smithii

Translations

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Statistics

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  • According to the 2010 United States Census, Smith is the most common surname in the United States, belonging to 2,442,977 individuals. Smith is most common among White (70.9%) and Black/African American (23.1%) individuals. [3]

See also

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English Smith.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Smith m or f

  1. a surname from English

Middle English

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Etymology

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Variant of Smyth.

Proper noun

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Smith

  1. (rare) a surname, alternative form of Smyth.
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