Smit is a Dutch occupational surname It represents an archaic spelling of the Dutch word "smid" for "smith" (metal worker) and is the Dutch equivalent of the English surname Smith.
Information for surname frequency in the Netherlands is limited by the end of comprehensive census taking in the year 1971. The most recent readily available information is based on the 1947 census, for which both raw census data and surname frequency data have been made available to the general public. In 1947 there were 29,783 recorded people with the surname Smit, while the general census provides a figure of 9,519,000 as the 1947 population. Working with this data the frequency of the Smit surname in the Netherlands in 1947 can be calculated to be ~0.313% or ~3,130 of every 1,000,000 people. By comparison, the most common Dutch surname in the 1947 data was de Jong, which had a frequency of ~0.580%.
An imperfect comparison can be made to primary English-speaking countries as of 1998 based on research by The National Trust. In 1998, the highest frequency was observed in New Zealand as 97.18 occurrences per million people, or ~1/30th the rate found in the Netherlands of 50 years before. Among the nations examined in the National Trust study, relative frequencies for 1991 were: New Zealand > Australia ≅ Canada ≫ United States > Northern Ireland > Great Britain > Republic of Ireland. The substantial difference between Canada and the United States indicated in this series is approximately 3.5 fold.
ArtsAernout Smit (1641–1710), Dutch painterAndré Smit (1916–2001), Dutch musicianArie Smit (1916–2016), Dutch-born Indonesian painterBartho Smit (1924–1986), South African writer, poet, dramatist and directorCarola Smit (b. 1963), Dutch singerCarolein Smit (b. 1960), Dutch ceramic art sculptorFloortje Smit (b. 1983), Dutch singerGabriël Smit (1910–1981), Dutch poet and journalistGer Smit (1933–2012), Dutch voice actorGert Smit (1944–1998), South African singerGuy Richards Smit (b. 1970), American performance artistHoward Smit (1911–2009), American film make-up artistHuub Smit (b. 1978), Dutch actorJan Smit (b. 1985), Dutch singerJoseph Smit (1836–1929), Dutch zoological illustratorLeo Smit (1900–1943), Dutch composer and pianistLeo Smit (1921–1999), American composerLionel Smit (b. 1982), South African artistLisa Smit (b. 1993), Dutch actressLouise Smit (b. 1940), South African children's writerMarianne Smit (b. 1984), Dutch harpistPeter Smit (b. 1952), Dutch children's writer and publicistPierre Jacques Smit (1863–1960), Dutch natural history illustrator in EnglandWisse Alfred Pierre Smit (1903–1986), Dutch poet and literary historianPoliticsJaap Smit (b. 1957), Dutch trade unionist and King's CommissionerJoke Smit (1933–1981), Dutch feminist and politicianMichiel Smit (b. 1976), Dutch politicianNeelie Smit (b. 1941), Dutch politicianNicolaas Smit (1832–1896), South African Boer general and politicianPaul Smit (b. 1953), Namibian politician and farmerRobert Smit (1933–1977), South African economist and politicianSportsAlexander Smit (b. 1985), Dutch baseball playerAnika Smit (b. 1986), South African high jumperAngie Smit (b. 1991), New Zealand middle distance runnerArij Smit (1907–1970), Dutch boxerArjan Smit (b.1978), Dutch inline-skaterArvid Smit (b. 1980), Dutch footballerDaryn Smit (b. 1984), South African cricketerDavid Smit (b. 1976), English cricketerDennis Smit (b. 1981), Dutch cyclistDillon Smit (b. 1992), South African rugby playerEttiene Smit (b. 1974), South African strongmanG. H. Smit (b. 1976), Guernsey cricket playerGretha Smit (b. 1976), Dutch speedskaterHans Smit (b. 1958), Indonesia-born Filipino football managerHeinrich Smit (b. 1990), Namibian rugby playerJan Smit (b. 1983), Dutch footballerJane Smit (b. 1972), English cricketerJennifer Smit (b. 1958), Dutch heptathleteJJ Smit (b. 1995), Namibian cricketerJohn Smit (b. 1978), South African rugby player and executiveJulia Smit (b. 1987), American swimmerKees Smit (b. 1940), Dutch footballerKick Smit (1911–1974), Dutch footballerKlaas Smit (1930–2008), Dutch footballerMaaike Smit (b. 1966), Dutch wheelchair tennis playerMarjan Smit (b. 1975), Dutch sotfball playerMarnix Smit (b. 1975), Dutch footballerMinouche Smit (b. 1975), Dutch swimmerNicolaas Smit (1979–2014), South African rugby playerPeter Smit (1961–2005), Dutch martial artistRiaan Smit (b. 1984), South African rugby playerRoelof Smit (b. 1993), South African rugby playerSylvia Smit (b. 1986), Dutch footballerTheo Smit (b. 1951), Dutch road bicycle racerWillie Smit (b. 1992), South African cyclistYasemin Smit (b. 1984), Dutch waterpolo playerOtherBart Smit (b. 1940), Dutch toy store ownerFlip Smit (b. 1936), South African demographer and educatorFop Smit (1777–1866), Dutch naval architect, shipbuilder, and shipowner, founder of Smit InternationalJan Smit (b. 1943), Dutch theoretical physicistJohannes Olav Smit (1883–1972), Dutch Roman Catholic bishopJörgen Smit (1916–1991), Norwegian teacher and writerLou Smit (1935–2010), American police detectiveMabel Wisse Smit (b. 1968), Dutch widow of Prince Friso of Orange NassauNeil Smit (b. 1959), American businessman and CEONimue Smit (b. 1992), Dutch fashion modelTim Smit (b. 1954), Dutch-born British archeologist, music producer and gardenerArie Jan Haagen-Smit (1900–1977), Dutch chemistChristian Reus-Smit (b. 1961), Australian international relations scholarSianoa Smit-McPhee (b. 1992), Australian actressKodi Smit-McPhee (b. 1996), Australian actorRie Smit-Vierdag (1905–2005), Dutch freestyle swimmerJože Šmit (1922 –2004), Slovene poet, translator, editor and journalistVlado Šmit (b. 1980), Serbian footballer