Smart Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Smart last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Smart last name
Meaning of the Smart last name: quick, brisk. Smart is an English surname from a medieval nickname for a quick, brisk or lively person, from Middle English smart. The last name is found in England and in eastern Scotland. Curiously, the eighteenth-century poet Christopher Smart wrote a much-loved passage about his cat Jeoffry while confined to an asylum.
Arms associated with the Smart name
In English heraldry, coats of arms associated with the Smart name are described in a blazon, a short formal text.
Get your full Smart family history
This is only a glimpse of the Smart story. The full Smart history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Smart coat of arms. Get the full Smart report.
Smart name FAQ
What does the Smart name mean?
Quick, brisk. Common variants include Smarte.
Where does the Smart surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in Scotland, Australia and the United States.
Is there a Smart coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Smart coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; George F. Black, The Surnames of Scotland (New York Public Library, 1946); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).