Meaning and background
The story behind Smith
Smith began as an English occupational surname for a worker in metal, especially a blacksmith. The trade’s practical importance explains why the name became widely established, although no modern popularity figure is needed here. It is also used as a given name and a dog name. Its one-syllable sound conceals a particularly well-documented occupational history.
- Origin
- English occupational surname from Old English smiþ, a smith or metalworker. Source
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About Smith
Recorded as a dog’s name
Smith appears in 7 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/smɪθ/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/smɪθ/ · primary stress on syllable 1S M IH1 TH
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.