Smithe is a rare
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
related to the common surname
Smith.
__NOTOC__
Among notable people sharing this surname is
William Smithe. Other instances appear in genealogical resource searches, but associated with the general population.
* England (1842–1887)
William Smithe, emigrated to Canada
Etymology
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." In the 1842 novel ''
Zanoni'', 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 god
Apollo: Smintheus.
Frequency
In looking at various surname frequency resources, the rarity of 'Smithe' is apparent. In the
1990 United States Census, 'Smithe' ranked near the bottom 10% of surnames in frequency, showing an overall rank of 78,005.
[Citation: US Census Bureau Staff, 2000] Regarding information assembled by
The National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
related to surname frequency in
Great Britain, neither in 1990 nor 1881 was 'Smithe' sufficiently high for inclusion in their statistical analyses.
[Citation: Longley, ''et al.''] 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.
Notes
References
*
* Note: Attempts to link directly to search results pages result in failure to find the site.
*
*
{{surname
Occupational surnames
English-language occupational surnames