TRACY SMITH

Transferred use of the surname, in origin a Norman baronial name from places in France called Tracy, from the Gallo-Roman personal name Thracius + the local suffix -acum. In former times, Tracy was occasionally used as a boy's name, as were the surnames of other English noble families. Later, it was also used as a girl's name, generally being taken as a pet form of Theresa. It became a very popular girl's name in the 1960s and 70s, but has gradually declined since. It continues to be used as a boy's name in the United States but is rarely, if ever, so used in Britain.

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).