ANNE SMITH

English form (via Old French, Latin, and Greek) of the Hebrew girl's name Hanna ‘He (God) has favoured me (i.e. with a child)’. This is the name borne in the Bible by the mother of Samuel (see Hannah), and according to non-biblical tradition also by the mother of the Virgin Mary. It is the widespread folk cult of the latter that has led to the great popularity of the name in various forms throughout Europe. The simplified form Ann was much more common in the 19th century but the form with final -e grew in popularity during the 20th century, partly perhaps due to L. M. Montgomery's story Anne of Green Gables (1908), and partly due to Princess Anne (b. 1950). See also Anna.

English: occupational name for a worker in metal, from Middle English smith (Old English smið, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Metalworking was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents were perhaps the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is the most frequent of all American surnames; it has also absorbed, by assimilation and translation, cognates and equivalents from many other languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).