FREDA SMITH

Originally a short form of various names such as Elfreda and Winifred, also occasionally of Frederica, but now used mainly (though infrequently) as an independent name. In some cases it may have been adopted as an English equivalent of the German name Frieda, a short form of such compound names as Friedegund and Friedelind, of which the common element is Germanic frid- ‘peace’.

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).