Question Home

Position:Home>Genealogy> Why is Schmitt such a common name in Germany ?


Question: Why is Schmitt such a common name in Germany !?
or Schmidt, Schmit etc!. I know it means the same as Smith, but why so common!?

my maiden nameWww@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Most, if not all Schmitts, originated in Germany, before they adopted the name Schmitt they had no last name and could have come from just about anywhere in Europe!.

Schmidt
Perhaps the most ancient of all descriptive surnames, and in its various forms the most popular in the Western world, this is a name of great honour, and probably not what it seems!. Recorded in the spellings of Schmidt, Schmit, Shmit, Schmitt (German), de Smid and Smid (Flemish), Smidt, Smed, Smut and Smed (Scandanavian) Szmidt and Szmyt (Polish) Smid (Czech) Schmidt, Szmidt, Shmidman etc (Askenazic), Smith, Smyth (British) and in approximately one thousand four hundred other variations from Grensmidt to Brooksmith to Schmiedal to Smuts, all are forms of the ancient 'smitan', meaning 'to smite'!. The conventional wisdom is to say that this means that a schmid(t) is or was originally 'a worker in iron'!. This is open to question!. The word 'smitan' is so ancient that it predates all known written history!. It appears in all European languages!. We believe that the original meaning of 'Schmid/Smith' is a soldier or warrior, but perhaps one who wore armour, which he would have had to repair!. This would lead to an association of ideas!. What is certain is that in the Medieval period every branch of 'schmitting' had its own distinctive terminology!. An ancient coat of arms from Rothenburg in Bavaria, has the blazon of a red field charged with two battle hammers in saltire, and a tree branch palewise!. Amongst the earliest German recordings of the surname are probably those of Henricus Schmitt of Rostock in 1287 and Nicolas Smedeke of Greifswald in 1388!. Niclas Schmidt (also recorded as Schmid), is registered at Athens, Green County, New York, on April 26th 1739!. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes Schmitt, which was dated 1268, recorded in Hamburg, North Germany, during the reign of Emperor Alphonso 1 of the German Empire (1257 - 1273)!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

Every village needed a smith, but usually had only one!. That made it a perfect descriptor - there might be a dozen men called John in the village, but there would only be one "John Smith"!. Names meaning "Smith" in the local language are the commonest single type in Europe, e!.g!.

Smith - English
Schmidt - German
Kovacs - Hungarian
Ferrier - French
Herrero - Spanish
- and so on!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

When folks had to pick a last name many of them chose Schmitt!. Many names derived from the area in which they lived or what they did for a living!. Schmitt is an occupational name for a black smith!.

Schmitt were blacksmiths
Muller was a miller
Keller meant cellar meaning where they worked
Fischer were fisherman
Zimmerman were carpenter
bauer were farmer

Here is the link to the history of the name;
http://www!.houseofnames!.com/xq/asp/sId!./!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The last name of Smith or Schmidt refers to blacksmiths the black is dropped and the Smith remains!. As to why there are so many in Germany that is something I would guess it has to do with all the blacksmiths that came out of there to populate the world with Smiths; )Www@QuestionHome@Com

Back in the olden days, people often didn't have last names, so at some point a person's profession was added onto their name!. Hence names like Smith (blacksmith), Miller, Baker, etc!.Www@QuestionHome@Com