The Savannah morning news., 1900-06-23
sURNAMEs AND THEIR CHANGES.
Some Strange Transformations OF
Names Among Immigrants.

From the Baltimore Sun.
| Among the multitude of English sur
names, which number about 80 900, none Is
more common than that of Smith, with It's
variation of Smeeth, Smyth, and Smythe.
Its popularity, no doubt is partly owing
to the fact that the word which is de-
rived from the Anglo Saxon Smitan, to
strike, was originally applied 10 any work
er in wood, clay, stone or metal. Sur
names were most frequently taken from
occupations and pursuits, such, for in
stance, as Miller, Tailor. Carpenter Car
ter, Fisher, Fowler. Hunter, etc.
writer of English nomenclature OBJ
serves of those who bear these names: 1T
is not to be doubted that their ancestors
have first gotten them by using such
trades, and the children of such parents
contented to adopt them" Names of
this description, with smith" added, are
now notable In the highest classes of So
ciety, as Arrowsmith, Goldsmith, etc. The
names of Collier and Calter, although re-
minding of mental occupations, which, in
the middle ages, were mostly followed by
bondmen and slaves, are now found in the
British peerage.
And now Prof. John Pentlaud Mahaf-
fly of Dublin University, the archaeolosist,
adds new splendor to the most largely pre-
vailing of all English surnames by show
ing that the name Smith was already
known TO the ancient Egyptians
In an article in the London Anthenaeum
he states that in a list of persons occupied
in the brewing of beer, which was a favor
ite beverage with the Inhabitants of the
land of the Pharaohs, the name of Smith
regularly appeared in the same form In one
of the unpublished papyri that was re-
Gently unearthed by M. Petrie. Whether
!, dc uaG Of q al
the dark Kulmbacher kind-for both the
light and the dark beers were known 10
the people of the Nile delta long before
our erals not mentioned One thing how
ever, is sure. says Prof. Mahaffy, and that
is the fact that'in the twentieth year Of
the third Ptolemy, or 227 y. C.. there lived
a man in Egypt who went by the name OF
Smith" and brewe,. and sold beer. rs
there any other English name whose age
can be compared with this?" asks the
Dublin scholar.
The Germans. of course. have at once
claimed the Egyptian brewer as one OF
their own. They contend mat the name of
the famous brewer OF ancient Egypt was
"Schmied."
Maybe. they argue the brewer Of this
glorious surname. ike so many German
emigrants of our days, TO please their new
countrymen, changed Schmled or Schmidt
into Smith. There are thousands of Eng
fathers Of whom spelled their name
Schmiod. The Baltimore city directory re-
cords many of these. and hundreds OF
German family names appear changed in
1t. Bascker becomes Baker; Fischer.
Fisher; Koch Cook; Mueller Miller;
Gaertner. Gardner; Albach, Albaugh;
Schneider, Snyder or Taylor; thinner
mann. Zimmerman or Carpenter; Grueu-
baum, Greentree: Gutmaun. Goodman, etc.
There occurred within the recollection
Of this century in our midst the remark
able example Of a change. or rather
changes, in the name OF a family whose
first representatives emigrated from Ger
many TO Pennsylvania and called them
selves Klein. or three brothers, one re-
tanned the German name, another. who
left for the West. came back as Mr.. Lit
tie; the third translated his name into
Small, and part Of the descendants OF the
first now spell their name Cline.
Apropos OF Jewish nomenclature in this
country, the American Hebrew remarks