Definition:

History

While the surname Smith probably originated in the United Kingdom (the earliest recorded instance of Smith was in 975 in England), the history of the surname spans many cultures and many times.  Most probably, the surname was originally related to someone who was a blacksmith, a goldsmith, or any type of person who worked with metals and would have been taken by those who practiced the profession and subsequently their family.

However, as time went on, the surname was also taken due to life circumstances.  For instance, many Native Americans took the name (which was common even in colonial times) in order to make dealings with the colonists easier.  Also, freed slaves would take the name Smith because that was the name of the slaveholder.  In other cases, because of the frequency of the surname, Smith was often taken as an alias.  Especially during World War 1 and World War 2, in the United States, the German name Schmidt or Schmitt would be changed to “Smith” – “Americanizing” it in order to hide German heritage. The history of the Smith family (and related names) is one of the most complex and widely misunderstood family histories.

The surname Smith is a common surname in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and other English-speaking countries. However, having the surname Smith does not necessarily mean that a particular family named Smith is of Anglo-Saxon roots.  There are many variations of “Smith” such as “Smyth” and “Smythe” in English but the surname, when originally related to a profession in other lands, may also be Schmidt or Schmieder or many other spellings.  Because of the wide variety of reasons for the taking of the surname Smith (and the changing to “Smith” from the original language), not all families named Smith are related.

 

Name Origin

Originally, the name Smith was an Anglo-Saxon (Old English) term meaning “one who works in metal.”  However, some think that the surname “Smith” may also have been related to the word “smite”. The Old English form of smite, which also meant strike (as in early 17th century Biblical English: the verb “to smite” = to hit).” which was linked with being a warrior.

 

Spellings & Pronunciations

In English, variations of Smith may be Smyth, Smythe,Smijth Smithman, Smithson and Smithfield

In German, Schmid, Schmidt, Schmitt, Schmitz, and Schmied
In Yiddissh: Schmieder

In southern Dutch: De Smid, De Smedt, Desmedt, De Smet, Smeets, and Smets, and in northern Dutch and Afrikaans: Smit, Smid, Smidt, Smed, De Smet

These are just a few of the variations of the “Smith” surname.

Our Smith ancestors and their many relatives, settled in Virginia and Kentucky as early as the beginning of the 1700’s.

              From places in Virginia like “Chesterfield County”, “Tug River”, “Frederick”, “Jamestown”, “Richmond”, “Harrisonburg”, “Wheeler South Ford” and “12 Pole Creek”

                                                                 In Kentucky it was “Blaine”, “Iron Hill”, “Carter”, “Covington”, “Morehead”, “Johnson” and “George Creek”

The Smith family had several families that they intermarried with. The Garrett family, the Bloss family and (yes, I hate to say it) the Smith family. As were the times, there are many cases where two brothers from one family married two sisters from another family (kind of a 2-for-1 deal). Their children though technically are “double”, first cousins, and were genetically the same as if they were siblings.