CRYSTAL SMITH

19th-century coinage, which has recently enjoyed some popularity. This is one of the group of names taken from or suggestive of gemstones. The word crystal, denoting high-quality cut glass, is derived from Greek krystallos ‘ice’. As a boy's name, Crystal originated as a Scottish pet form of Christopher, but it is rarely used today.

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).