Smithe
Smitheis a raresurnamerelated to the common surnameSmith.
| Other names | |
|---|---|
| Variant form(s) | Smith |
Among notable people sharing this surname isWilliam Smithe.Other instances appear in genealogical resource searches, but associated with the general population.
- England (1842–1887)William Smithe,emigrated to Canada
Etymology
[edit]In the mid-19th Century, a supposition was published that people may well alter a single letter in their 'Smith' surname for reasons of status or recognition; as Lower puts it, "...yet it would appear, from the addition and alteration of a letter, that some families are anxious to avoid the imputation of so plebeian an origin."[1]In the 1842 novelZanoni,Lytton articulates a variation on this by suggesting people changing surname from 'Smith' to 'Smithe' may well be trying to increase the stature of their surname by approaching ever so slightly a purported surname of the godApollo:Smintheus.[2]
Frequency
[edit]In looking at various surname frequency resources, the rarity of 'Smithe' is apparent. In the1990 United States Census,'Smithe' ranked near the bottom 10% of surnames in frequency, showing an overall rank of 78,005.[3]Regarding information assembled byThe National Trustrelated to surname frequency inGreat Britain,neither in 1990 nor 1881 was 'Smithe' sufficiently high for inclusion in their statistical analyses.[4]Nonetheless, sufficient 'Smithe' surname responses appeared in the 1881 census to support County-geographical mapping of surname distribution, but even this level of information is lacking for 1990 census data.[4]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Lytton, Edward Bulwer(1842).Zanoni(PDF (Google Books)).Vol. 1. New York:Harper & Brothers.p. 94.Retrieved2008-03-21.
- Longley, Paul; Alex Singleton; Richard Webber; Daryl Lloyd."SMITHE".SPLINT Project, University College London.The National Trust.Retrieved2008-03-22.
{{cite web}}:External link in|work= - Lower, Mark Antony (1860) [1860].Patronymica Britannica: A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom(PDF (Internet Archive)).London: John Russell Smith. pp.320.Retrieved2008-03-22.
- US Census Bureau staff (2000-09-07)."Search names from 1990 Census".United States Census Bureau.Archived fromthe original(Database search result)on 1997-02-07.Retrieved2008-03-22.
NAME (last):SMITHE; %FREQ:0.000%; CUMM FREQ:89.453%; RANK:78,005 (reformatted quote)
Surnames associated withthe occupation ofsmith | ||
|---|---|---|
| Celtic |  | |
| Germanic | ||
| Romance | ||
| Semitic | ||
| Slavic |
| |
| Other | ||
| From "spark" rel. to occ. 'smith' | ||
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