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Name Origins - Smee
That'S Me

A favourite for the Daily Telegraph's Cryptic Crossword is -
An Aquatic fowl, 4 letters
The answer of course is not "duck" but "Smew" a type of Sawbill (which is a complex way of saying Duck)

Some people think this is the origin of the name as the name Smew changed to Smee or Smeath in the 17th century depending where you lived in England.
Quack-Quack !

Dr Craig Smee was told the name may be of Russian origin! He was also told it was not Armorial. However the Coat of arms on the left was purchased some 30 years ago.
Authentic or a Commercial forgery?
The motto "Marti et ingenio" means something like "Clever and aggressive"


A Different Genealogical research Company gave this Information :-

Early records of the the name mention Edward de Smye who was listed in the Yorkshire Poll tax returns of 1379. Thomas Smye was baptised at St James, Clerkenwell, London in 1573. 1574 saw John Smy of Berkshire registered at Oxford University.
Arms - Argent a Chevron between three pheons sable
Crest - A Beavers head erased argent collared holding in the mouth a branch vert.


The ‘Book of Surnames’ by Weekley has the following entry:

                   SMEED,SMEETH,SMEDES,
M.E. smethe = a level place (Simon de la Smethe, 1205, Thomas Atte Smyethe 1216) Hence also Smee and SMY, Dialect forms. All these are also nicknames from the same word used in the sense of smooth, hairless (Philip le Smeths 1273). So also the compounds SMEATHMAN and SMITHETT (smooth head) may be local or nicknames.”


Returning to our relationship to Donald,

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) :

Smew \Smew\, n. [Perhaps for ice-mew.] (Zo["o]l.)

(a) small European merganser ({Mergus albellus) which has a white crest; -- called also smee, smee duck, white merganser, and white nun.
(b) The hooded merganser. [Local, U.S.]

Which is correct, if you ignore the Female Colouring, but what would you expect from a Dictionary that can't spell Colour?

Small ,white duck-like bird.

Black face and a V-shaped black patch beneath the crest. Its back wings and buttocks are dark grey to black. The breast is white and has two lines on the side that extend forward from the back.

Has a thick pointed bill with a jagged edge.

Females have a brownish head and a white cheek and chin patch. The breast is light grey and the rest of the body is dark grey.
 

Smew (Mergus albellus)
Known as
White Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Smee, Smee Duck, Smeath, White Nun, Weasel Coot, White Widgeon, Miko-aisa
Population:
Northern Europe - 1,500
Russia - 2,500
Japan/China - Rare
UK - 250
US - Very rare in America. They have been sighted in New York and Rhode Island.
Audubon shot one near New Orleans, which shows what a fantastic Conservationist he was.


Being employed by an International Corporation, I am quite used to Dutch and Belgian colleagues telephoning me and being surprised that I don't speak Dutch, the Smee name and variations are extremely common in the lowlands of Europe and may indicate a Huguenot connection.

Smeeth Church, near Ashford Kent.Personally I think the Smee name in England is Anglo-Saxon and the family originated in the Village of Smeeth in Kent, the Village Church can be seen at left. At some point the Family moved to Essex.

The Smees seem to have spread from Potters in Staffordshire and a family based around Portsmouth who came from Worcester.

Pete Smee or the Star formerly known as Camelopardalis RA 11h39m19.90s Dec 85° 28'