Smith tops the chart as most common surname

Smith is the most common family surname in America. Everyone knows somebody named Smith – Cindy Smith, Susan Smith, Kate Smith, J.J. Smith, Anna Smith, Charlie Smith, Jodi Smith, John Smith, Lynn Smith, Steve Smith, Harry Smith, Al Smith, Bushy Smith, Bubba Smith….

 

Kate Smith, Steve Smith and Harry Smith

Smith is also the leading surname in other English-speaking countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. 

The most popular of all the “occupational surnames,” Smith was derived from the Old English word “smid” or “smitan,” which meant “to strike with a hammer.” Thus, smith was the term given to a metal worker. 

Pete Markey, owner of Creative Metal Design in Frederick, Md., said that “1,000 years ago, people only knew about seven metals (iron, gold, silver, copper, tin, lead and mercury).” 

“By color: gold is yellow; copper is red; and silver, tin, lead and mercury are different gray colors. Iron is also a gray color, but usually its surface is covered with a black oxide, which is a kind of rust. This black color forms very fast in a smith’s fire. The other metals have light colors, but iron is dark, so it is called the black metal.”

“Hence, a smith who works with the black metal is a blacksmith,” Markey said.

 

Pete Markey is flanked by sons Luke (left) and Neil (right). All are modern-day blacksmiths.

Encyclopedia Britannica tells us: “Blacksmiths made an immense variety of common objects used in everyday life: nails, screws, bolts and other fasteners; sickles, plowshares, axes and other agricultural implements; hammers and other tools used by artisans; swords, shields and armor; wheel rims and other metal parts in wagons and carriages; fireplace fittings and implements; spikes, chains and cables used on ships; and ironwork, both functional and decorative, used in furniture and in the building trades.”

 

Other smiths dealt with other metals and produced specialty products. Consider arrowsmiths, bladesmiths, coinsmiths, coppersmiths, goldsmiths, gunsmiths, locksmiths, pewtersmiths, silversmiths and tinsmiths.

This is a silversmith at work.

 

One could even become a fendersmith. A fendersmith makes, repairs and cleans the metal fender before fireplaces, protecting rugs and furniture in mansions and fine estates. The person is usually also responsible for lighting and tending the fires. 

Few fendersmiths exist today, but they are employed in England at places like Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

 

More than 11.4 million Americans, while viewing the funeral of Queen Elizabeth Sept. 19, 2022, saw and heard Pipe Major Paul Burns play one final lament, “A Salute to the Royal Fendersmith,” as the Queen’s coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault beneath St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

 

One of Her Majesty’s favorite bagpipe tunes, the song was composed by former Pipe Major James Banks in 1993 after the tragic death of his elder brother, Willie Banks, who was once the Fendersmith at Windsor Castle. 

Gary Jones, the current Fendersmith at Windsor Castle, told the British news media that he has 300 fireplaces to look after. His other duties in service of Queen Elizabeth were to water her garden and tend to her plantings. The two would often sit together and watch television. 

Just as the “duties” of a fendersmith have changed, so has the role of the contemporary blacksmith, Markey said. Today, a blacksmith “is an artist who creates on a canvas of iron. Using the hammer in place of the brush, he paints three-dimensional works of art that are functional as well as beautiful.” 

Other occupational surnames of note include Archer, Barber, Brewer, Butler, Carpenter, Carver, Cook, Cooper, Farmer, Fisher, Forester, Fowler, Gardener, Hunter, Mason, Miller, Piper, Potter, Shoemaker, Skinner, Tanner, Taylor, Wagoner, Weaver and Wheeler.