Why are so many Westerners taking the Smith surname so much?

In English-speaking countries, where to go, you will also meet the Smiths.

If you ask, name a person you know who has Smith. Too simple. Most answers will be Will Smith. And of course, indispensable singer Sam Smith. Sometimes people even mention Agent Smith, or even the name of the most famous archaeologist of the film world - with a rather obscene name - Indiana Smith? (It was the first idea of ​​George Lucas for the name of Indiana Jones character).

You see, the Smiths are simply too popular . This is the most common surnames in the UK (starting here), Australia, and of course, America. According to the Census Bureau, there are about 2 million people in the Smith family in the United States alone.

Harrison Ford's character almost became Indiana Smith.

So the question is: Why are there so many Smiths?

Let's return to the time of 1066, when the Normans conquered England. Earlier, according to what Paul Blake, President of the Genealogy Society learned, the British inherently had no concept of They. The Normans themselves brought the concept of They to the British.

Some names are chosen based on a person's home town, such as Bedford or Hampshire. Some people put their last name based on a river, or a tree. In general, I like it.

Some of them are based on careers. This is the source of the Smith family . Smith's name is based on the word Smite in the Anglo-Saxon language, meaning "knock down with a hammer" , Excerpt from "The History and Origin of the Smith Family".

Popular occupations of that time included goldsmith, shoessmith, bronzesmith (coppersmith), and of course, blacksmiths (blacksmith).

"In the middle ages, every village had workers (the Smiths), " said George Redmonds in "Surname, DNA, and Genealogy".

In the community at that time, the tradesmen were members who were valued. The chief blacksmith, in particular, always got the favor from the King because they were the ones in charge of forging weapons. In Wales, blacksmiths are so respected that they can ask the King any kind of wine he desires. What's more amazing.

Blacksmith at 1066.

However, this does not mean that the blacksmith John will be more valuable than the egg seller John (Eggler), or John rang the bell (Sexton) - a profession considered to be unlucky in the middle ages. So, is there a reason for you to refuse a family that has much respect in society like Smith, right?

Continuing to colonize America. In the 1600s, the first people to set foot in New England were the Smiths . Because of the coincidence of history between the United States and the Smith family, this family has become a characteristic of America, like apple pie.

The American Aborigines took this name to become more Anglicized.The slave owner named Smith for African slaves (about 20% of the Smiths in the United States are now black). Muslims also took the surname Smith to be more sociable.

And the Germans with the Schmidt family all changed to Smith.

Finally, Smith became America's most popular name.

However, not only English-speaking countries, Smith's family (including variants) are also popular in other languages.

They "Smith" also included in Arabic.

In Portuguese, the name Ferreira is very popular, and it is quite similar to the Smith family when it comes to the word "ferreiro", meaning Blacksmith.

Even in Arabic. The family Haddad (حداد) is a family that is also very popular in Arab countries, especially in the Catholic community. This family also means Blacksmith.

In Hungary, they are used most often as Kovács (or Kováts, Kovách), which also means Smith.

With Russian, Кузнецов - a family appears everywhere, which comes from "кузнец ", meaning Blacksmith in Russian.

They Schmied or variations like Schmidt, Schmitt, Schmid . are also very popular in German-speaking dukes.

However, despite appearing all over the world, the Smith family is still not the most popular family in the world . Perhaps everyone knows, the most popular family name is Li (or Lee) of Chinese people.