Why is "Smith" such a common surname in various languages?

Must have been a popping industry back in the day

>>2188395
it's just that farmer is a much shittier surname

It was originally common for that reason, but then became even more common because people adopted it thanks to the fact it was common. Apparently names like Schmidt / Schmitz in German just became "Smith" for anglicized Germans, ex slaves got the name a lot, natives took it on for dealing with colonists, etc.

t. wikipedia with [citation needed] so a grain of salt is required, if anyone has a better answer I'm intrigued too.

There were different types of smiths.

>an arrowsmith forges arrow heads;
>a blacksmith works with iron and steel;
>a bladesmith forges knives, swords, and other blades;
>a coppersmith, or brownsmith, works with copper;
>a fendersmith makes and repairs the metal fender before fireplaces, protecting rugs and furniture in mansions and fine estates, and often looks after the fires as well;
>a goldsmith works with gold;
>a gunsmith works with guns;
>a locksmith works with locks;
>a pewtersmith works with pewter;
>a silversmith, or brightsmith, works with silver;
>a tinsmith, or tinner, works with light metal (such as tinware) and can refer to someone who deals in tinware;
>a swordsmith is a bladesmith who forges only swords;
>a whitesmith works with white metal (tin) and can refer to someone who polishes or finishes the metal rather than forging it.

Please don't associate us Goldsmith descendants with those pleb-tier blacksmith cunts. I shit on iron-forging.

>>2188395
>Blacksmith
Most alpha virile man for miles around