Where the Schmidt name comes from

Schmidt is a German occupational surname taken from Schmied, the word for a blacksmith or metalworker. In older German, Schmidt was itself a form of the noun for a smith, before modern usage settled on Schmied. The name began as a trade and became a surname, the German equivalent of the English Smith. Related German forms include Schmid, Schmied, Schmitt and Schmitz.

In Denmark the name often arrived as a Germanized form of the Danish Smed. By 2011, 15,849 people in Denmark carried the name Schmidt, against 863 named Smed. The 2010 United States Census counted 147,034 people called Schmidt, making it the 185th most common surname in the country.