Goldsmith
An occupational surname for a maker or seller of gold items, from medieval English for a gold worker.
The #2,229 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,888 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Goldsmith is an occupational surname built from English gold + smith, literally meaning a worker in gold. Medieval records also show the Latinized form aurifaber, with the same sense: aurum means “gold” and faber means “craftsman” or “smith.” Related continental forms include Old French orfevre and German Goldschmid/Goldschmidt, all pointing to the same trade.
History
The name appears in medieval records for people who worked in gold, a valuable and socially important craft. Some early bearers were closely connected with royal minting and urban trade, which helped the surname become established. It also survived as both a hereditary surname and, at times, a descriptive byname in records.
Origin
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Fun fact
In some early records, goldsmiths were important enough to be noted as hereditary mint-masters to the crown.
From the historical record
“goldsmith. GOLDSMITH, The gront vnluc of the commodity in which the medieval gold- smith dealt rendered him a person of con- sequence. No less tlian three tenan(s-ia- chief under the Conqueror are entered in Domesday under the name of Aurifaber. One of these. Otto Aurifaber, held in Essex, and his descendants…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom