16-556: For other uses, see Smithers (disambiguation) . Smithers is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Middle English term "smyther", referring to a metalsmith , and is thus related to the common occupational surname Smith . The name Smither is related. People [ edit ] Alan Smithers (born 1938), English educationalist Sir Alfred Waldron Smithers (1850–1924), British financier and parliamentarian, after whom
32-428: A sickle - or scythe -smith. Wildsmith in turn is a corruption of wheelsmith The patronymic practice of attaching son to the end of a name to indicate that the bearer is the child of the original holder has also led to the surnames Smithson and Smisson. Historically, "Smitty" has been a common nickname given to someone with the surname, Smith; in some instances, this usage has passed into "Smitty" being used as
48-570: A smith , originally deriving from smið or smiþ , the Old English term meaning one who works in metal , related to the word smitan , the Old English form of smite , which also meant strike (as in early 17th century Biblical English: the verb "to smite" = to hit). The Old English word smiþ comes from the Proto-Germanic word smiþaz . Smithy comes from the Old English word smiðē from
64-1094: A supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe Derek Smithers , a character in the Alex Rider series Will Smithers, a minor character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Smithers, Hiram Lodge 's butler in Archie Comics Charlie Smithers, the contestant played by Ronnie Corbett in the spoof version of Mastermind by the Two Ronnies See also [ edit ] List of Old English (Anglo-Saxon) surnames Notes [ edit ] ^ Reaney, Percy Hide; Wilson, R. M. (1991). A Dictionary of English Surnames . Psychology Press. p. 2896. ISBN 041505737X . Retrieved April 3, 2014 . [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
80-584: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Smithers (disambiguation) Smithers is a surname of British origin. Smithers may also refer to: Smith (surname) Smith is an occupational surname originating in England. It is the most prevalent surname in the United Kingdom , the United States , Australia , Canada , and New Zealand , and the fifth most common surname in
96-564: The Republic of Ireland . In the United States, the surname Smith is particularly prevalent among those of English, Scottish, and Irish descent, but is also a common surname among African-Americans , which can be attributed either to African slaves having been given the surname of their masters, or to being an occupational name, as some southern African-Americans took this surname to reflect their or their father's trade. 2,442,977 Americans shared
112-605: The Smith root. Names such as Smither and Smithers may in some cases be variants of Smith but in others independent surnames based on a meaning of light and active attributed to smyther . Additional derivatives include Smithman, Smithson and Smithfield (see below). Athersmith may derive from at the Smith . Other variations focus on specialisms within the profession; for example Blacksmith , from those who worked predominantly with iron, Whitesmith , from those who worked with tin (and
128-2953: The surname Smithers . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. v t e Surnames associated with the occupation of smith Celtic Goff Goffe Gow Gowan Gowans Le Goff Mac a' Ghobhainn MacGavin / McGavin MacGowan / McGowan [REDACTED] Germanic Brenneis De Smedt De Smet Eisen Eisler Eisner Kleinschmidt Klier Klingbeil Klinkhamer Klinkhammer Nagel Pinkert Schmid Schmidt Schmied Schmieden Schmitt Schmitz Schmitzer Smed Smeets Smet Smets Smidt Smit Smith Smithe Smither Smithers Smithies Smithson Smits Smyth Smythe Szmidt Šmíd Romance Fabbri Faber Fabre Fabri Faure Favre Feaver Ferrara Ferrari Ferraris Ferraro Ferré Ferreira Ferrer Ferrero Ferreiro Ferretti Ferreyra Ferrier Ferriero Fieraru Fierarul Herrera Herrero Lefébure Lefebvre Lefèvre Semitic Haddad Hadodo Al-Haddad El-Haddad Slavic Covaci Coval Covali Covaliov Kavalyow Kovač Kováč Kovach Kovačević Kovačevič Kovačovič Kovačev Kovachev Kovačec Kovačevski Kovačić Kovačič Kovačik Kováčik Kovack Kovács Koval Kovalchuk Kovalenko Kovalevich Kovalevsky Kovalic Kovalik Kovalik Kovalkov Kovals Kovalsky Kovalyov Kovalyuk Kovář Kovařík Kowal Kowalik Kowalczyk Kowalczuk Kowalewicz Kowalewski Kowalski Kuznets Kuznetsov Kuźniar Other Armenian: Darbinyan Baltic Kalējs Kalvaitis (Kalwejt, Kallweit, etc.) Kavaliauskas Šmits Finnic Sepp Seppä Seppänen Seppälä Indic: Lohar Kartvelian Mchedlidze Mchedlishvili Turkic Demirci Demircioğlu From "spark" rel. to occ. 'smith' Funk Funke Vonck Vonk Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smithers&oldid=1082013103 " Categories : Surnames Occupational surnames English-language surnames Surnames of English origin Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
144-505: The world wars , but also commonly in times of peace, and the Polish equivalent Kowalski was Anglicized to Smith as well. Variations of the surname Smith also remain very common. These include different spellings of the English name, and versions in other languages. There is some disagreement about the origins of the numerous variations of the name Smith. The addition of an e at the end of
160-479: The Proto-Germanic smiðjon . The use of Smith as an occupational surname dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when inherited surnames were still unknown: Ecceard Smith of County Durham , North East England , was recorded in 975. A popular misconception holds that at the beginning of the 20th century, when many new immigrants were entering the U.S., civil servants at Ellis Island responsible for cataloging
176-460: The difficulty of reading blackletter text, where Smith might look like Snuth or Simth . However, Charles Bardsley wrote in 1901, "The y in Smyth is the almost invariable spelling in early rolls, so that it cannot exactly be styled a modern affectation." Some variants (such as Smijth ) were adopted by individuals for personal reasons, while others may have arisen independently or as offshoots from
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#1732845144034192-498: The entry of such persons sometimes arbitrarily assigned new surnames if the immigrants' original surname was particularly lengthy, or difficult for the processor to spell or pronounce. While such claims may be exaggerated, many immigrants did choose to begin their American lives with more "American" names, particularly with Anglicised versions of their birth names; the German Schmidt was often Anglicized to Smith not only during
208-420: The more obvious Tinsmith ), Brownsmith and Redsmith, from those who worked with copper ( Coppersmith and Greensmith; copper is green when oxidised), Silversmith and Goldsmith – and those based on the goods produced, such as Hammersmith, Bladesmith , Naismith ( nail -smith), Arrowsmith which in turn was shortened to Arsmith, or Shoesmith (referring to horseshoes ). Sixsmith is a variant spelling of
224-506: The name is sometimes considered an affectation, but may have arisen either as an attempt to spell smithy or as the Middle English adjectival form of smith , which would have been used in surnames based on location rather than occupation (in other words, for someone living near or at the smithy). Likewise, the replacement of the i with a y in Smyth or Smythe is also often considered an affectation but may have originally occurred because of
240-504: The surname Smith at the time of the 2010 census , and more than 500,000 people shared it in the United Kingdom as of 2006. At the turn of the 20th century, the surname was sufficiently prevalent in England to have prompted the statement: "Common to every village in England, north, south, east, and west"; and sufficiently common on the (European) continent (in various forms) to be "common in most countries of Europe". The name refers to
256-1120: The town of Smithers, British Columbia was named. Collier Twentyman Smithers (1867–1943), painter Don Smithers (born 1933), music historian and musician Jan Smithers (born 1949), American actress best known for her role in WKRP in Cincinnati Joy Smithers (born 1963), Australian actress Leonard Smithers (1861–1907), English publisher and translator Nathaniel B. Smithers (1818–1896), American lawyer and politician Sir Peter Smithers (1913–2006), British politician Reay Smithers (1907–1987), South African zoologist Sir Waldron Smithers (1880–1954), British politician, son of Sir Alfred Waldron Smithers William Smithers (born 1927), American actor Fictional characters [ edit ] Waylon Smithers , Mr. Burns' assistant in The Simpsons Smithers , one of Q's assistants in two James Bond films Samuel Smithers, also known as Plantman ,
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