Where did the name Smith come from? What is their coat of arms? When did the Smith family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the history of the family name?

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Smith Coat of Arms and Name History

Smith

Origin Displayed: Scottish

Origins Available: Dutch, English, German, Irish, Scottish

Spelling variations of this family name include: Smith, Smyth, Smythe and others.

First found in northern England and Scotland, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Rich Smith, who settled in Virginia in 1638; Abbigall Smith, who was granted land in Virginia in 1673; James Smith and his wife Mary, who immigrated to Boston in 1718 with their children, Abel Smith, who came to Boston in 1763.

Motto Translated: Always faithful.

Suggested Readings for the name Smith
Andrew M. and O.S. Smith, Sons of Maine and Nebraska Homesteaders by Claude R. Wiegers, Kinfolk of Henry Smith (1846-1887), Pioneer Heritage: the Smith Family by Marguerite Esther Smith.

Some noteworthy people of the name Smith

Joseph Smith Jr. (1805-1844), American religious prophet, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Captain Michael J Smith (1945-1986), American Astronaut pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger which blew up shortly after launch
Stan Smith (b. 1946), American, professional tennis player
General Walter Bedell Smith (1895-1961), U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1948 and head of CIA from 1950 to 1953
Bessie Smith (1894-1937), American blues singer sometimes referred to as "The Empress of the Blues"
Robert Smith (1757-1842), second United States Secretary of the Navy from 1801 to 1809 and the sixth United States Secretary of State from 1809 to 1811
Clarence "Pinetop" Smith (1904-1929), American, influential blues and boogie-woogie piano player
Lamont Smith (b. 1973), American gold medalist in the men's 4x400 meter relay at the 1996 Olympic Games
Julie Smith (b. 1968), American softball player. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she received a gold medal with the American team
Michele Mary Smith (b. 1967), American softball player and two time Olympic Gold Medalist
Walker Smith Jr. (1920-1989), original name of Sugar Ray Robinson named the greatest fighter of the 20th century by the Associated Press, and the greatest boxer in history by ESPN.com in 2007
Anna Nicole Smith (1968-2007), American model and television personality
Private Furman L Smith (1925-1944), American soldier, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1944
Colonel John Lucian Smith (1914-1972), American Marine Corps ace who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1942
Staff Sergeant Maynard Harrison Smith (1911-1984), U.S. Army Air Corps gunner, won the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1943
General Oliver Prince Smith (1893-1977), General in the United States Marine Corps and a highly decorated combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War
George Elwood Smith Ph.D. (b. 1930), American scientist and co-inventor of the charge-coupled device. He was awarded a third-share in the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics
Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905-1982), first American sportswriter to win a Pulitzer Prize (1976 for Commentary)
Sir William Alexander Smith (1854-1914), Scottish founder of the Boys' Brigade
William Robertson Smith (1846-1894), Scottish biblical scholar
Iain Crichton Smith (1928-1998), Scottish man of letters, writing in both English and Scottish Gaelic, and a prolific author in both languages. He is known for poetry, short stories and novels
Frederick Winston Furneaux Smith (1907-1975), British historian, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead
Major-General Sir Edmund Hakewill Smith (1896-1986), who served with the British armed forces in both World Wars and was Knighted in 1967
Michael Smith (1932-2000), Canadian (British born) biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993 and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in in 1994
Frederick Edwin Smith (1872-1930), British politician, Lord chancellor (1919-1922), created Earl of Birkenhead (1922)
William Henry Smith Jr. (1825-1891), English businessman and politician, son of the founder of W. H. Smith Book Stores, First Lord of the Admiralty (1877)
Sir Alexander Mair Smith (1922-2003), British former chief physicist for Rolls-Royce knighted in 1975
Sir Grafton Elliot Smith FRS, FRCP (1871-1937), Australian anatomist
Robert Barr Smith (1824-1915), Australian pastoralist
Sydney George Ure Smith (1887-1949), Australian artist
Maria Ann Smith (1801-1870), Australian orchardist and creator of the "Granny Smith" apple
Sir Ross MacPherson Smith (1892-1922), Australian aviator
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (1897-1935), Australian pioneer aviator who made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia in 1928 and was Knighted in 1932 and later was appointed honorary Air Commodore of the Royal Australian Air Force
Captain John Smith (1580-1631), English explorer and early leader of the Jamestown Colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America
James Smith (1719-1806), Irish signer of Declaration of Independence
Sydney Smith (1771-1845), English writer and Anglican clergyman
Edward John Smith (1850-1912), English, Captain of the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic
Ernest Alvia "Smokey" Smith (1914-2005), Canadian soldier awarded the Victoria Cross during WWII

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