TREVOR SMITH

Transferred use of the Welsh surname, in origin a local name from any of the many places in Wales called Trefor, from tref ‘settlement’ + fôr, mutated form of mawr ‘large’. In the mid-20th century it came to enjoy considerable popularity in the English-speaking world among people with no connection with Wales; for example the actor Trevor Howard (1916–88) was born in Kent.

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).