Smith

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Smith is an extremely common English occupational surname, the most popular in all of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. It is so common, in fact, that "John Smith" is frequently used as a placeholder name. Cognate with the German Schmidt/Schmitt, it derives from the Old English smītan, meaning "to smite".

Variants

• Dutch
  • De Smet
  • Desmet
  • Smid
  • Smit
  • Smits
• English
  • DeSmith
  • Smethe
  • Smyth
  • Smythe
• German
  • Schmidt
  • Schmied
  • Schmitt

People

Given name

• Charles Smith Hamilton (1822–1891), Statesian major general and industrialist
• Elias Smith Dennis (1812–1894), Illinois politician and Union brevet major general
• Friend Smith Rutherford (1820–1864), Statesian lawyer, prison superintendent, and military officer who was posthumously promoted to brigadier general
• John Smith Phelps (1814–1886), Statesian brigadier general, Military Governor of Arkansas during the Civil War, and Governor of Missouri from 1877 to 1881
• Milo Smith Hascall (1829–1904), Statesian brigadier general, banker, and real estate agent
• Smith Larimer (1829–1881), Statesian soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
• Speed Smith Fry (1817–1892), Statesian lawyer, judge, and brigadier general

Surname

• Adam Smith (1723–1790), Scottish economist and philosopher often called the "father of capitalism"
• Al Smith (1873–1944), Statesian politician, twice Governor of New York, and Democratic nominee in the 1928 presidential election
• Charles Bullen-Smith (1898–1970), British general of both World Wars
• Daniel Bennett Smith (1956–), Statesian diplomat who served as director of the Foreign Service Institute and briefly as acting Secretary of State
• Danielle Smith (1971–), Canadian politician and the current Premier of Alberta
• Eddie Liger Smith (1997–), Statesian communist activist, wrestling coach, and director of the Midwestern Marx Institute
• Howard W. Smith (1883–1976), Statesian lawyer, politician, leader of the conservative coalition, and namesake of the Smith Act
• James Francis Smith (1859–1928), Statesian lawyer, judge, general, and politician who served as 8th U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines
• John Smith (c. 1579–1631), English soldier, adventurer, and colonial administrator best-known for founding Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World
• John Smith (1938–1994), Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and of the Opposition from 1992 until his death
• Joseph Smith (1805–1844), Statesian cult leader who founded Mormonism
• Noah Smith, Statesian economics professor and journalist who publishes the Noahpinion blog on Substack
• Robert Burns Smith (1854–1908), Statesian attorney and politician who served as the Governor of Montana from 1897 to 1901
• Thomas Kilby Smith (1820–1887), Statesian lawyer, diplomat, and brevet major general
• Walter Bedell Smith (1895–1961), Statesian general and diplomat who served as Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff during World War II and CIA Director from 1950 to 1953
• Walter George Smith (1854–1924), Statesian attorney
• William Forgan Smith (1887–1953), Australian politician, unionist, and Premier of Queensland from 1932 to 1942
• Will Smith (1968–), Statesian actor, director, and rapper

Fictional characters

• Winston Smith, the protagonist of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

Places

North America

United States

• Fort Smith, Arkansas

See also

• Faber
• Kovač
• Lefebvre
• Schmidt
• Schmitt