Is Smith a German Last name?
The name originally derives from smitan, the Anglo-Saxon term meaning to smite or strike. This term led to the name of the occupation, smith or blacksmith, because such persons must continuously strike metal with a hammer in order to shape it. Metallurgy required the development of specialist skills, and was practiced throughout the world from the Bronze Age. The use of Smith as an occupational surname dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when inherited surnames were still unknown: Ecceard Smith of Durham County was recorded in 975.[2] Smithers may also have derived from the Celtic word “smiterin” which meant “blown to bits”. This explains the common expression “blown to smithereens”. Although the name is derived from a common occupation, many later Smiths had no connection to that occupation, but adopted or were given the surname precisely because of its commonness. For example: * Following the failed Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland, which began around 1715, many Scots adopted the last nam
