The Smoot surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,168 people carried this name — #3,868 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 32,200 people counted. That is up 2% from 8,955 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Smoot surname

Likely from the Dutch smout, someone who sold or worked with animal fat.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Smoot» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

36 families named Smoot, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 190 people lived in those households, 5.3 to a family on average. The table counts it together with one other spelling. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Maryland 31
Virginia 4
North Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 262 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Smoot in American newspapers,
1907–1917.

Newspaper page from The Billings Gazette carrying the name Smoot
The Billings Gazette 1907-02-22
Newspaper page from The Houma Courier carrying the name Smoot
The Houma Courier 1917-09-29
Newspaper page from Daily Kennebec Journal carrying the name Smoot
Daily Kennebec Journal 1907-02-21

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Smoot in Australian newspapers,
1890s–1940s.

215 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Smoot. The most, 96, date from the 1900s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Queensland, at 2.0 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 78
New South Wales 51
Victoria 31
South Australia 26
Western Australia 19
Tasmania 8
ACT (Canberra) 2

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Smoot.

Who carried it

People named Smoot,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Abraham Owen Smoot
    Abraham Owen Smoot 1815–1895 · politician
  • Reed Owen Smoot
    Reed Owen Smoot 1862–1941 · politician
  • Ida Smoot Dusenberry
    Ida Smoot Dusenberry 1873–1955 · suffragette
  • William Smoot 1849–1939
  • Frank Burt Smoot 1906–2006 · illustrator
  • Dan Smoot 1913–2003 · journalist

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Smoot,
in the records of 2 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States541 records

541 records of the Smoot name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 339
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 140
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 37
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 12
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 6
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record George Smoot

    Born 1915 in Texas. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Sam Houston; plumber from Grimes County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1977, buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Mont Steve Smoot

    Born 1949; from Mt Airy, North Carolina. U.S. Army, medical equipment repairer; died in an accident 1972 in Bien Hoa, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Kenneth R. Smoot

    U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War. Born 1931, died 1998; buried at Barrancas National Cemetery, Florida.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 541 records for Smoot in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Netherlands4 records

4 records of the Smoot name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 2
  • Dutch population registers 1
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Suzanna Elizabeth Smoot

    Married in 1906 in Oostburg; milliner.

    Open Archives, Zeeuws Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Gerraert Smoot

    Married in 1665 in Hoeven.

    Open Archives, Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Margaret Smoot

    Died 1964 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 79.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 4 records for Smoot in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Smoot.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Smoot is.
A volume says what happened to it.

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