# Schmidt (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/schmidt/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation].

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 147,034 |
| US rank (2010) | 185 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 2,100 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.0% (145,565 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ʃmɪt/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from German Schmidt (“smith”). Doublet of Smid and Smith.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Schmidt in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Schmidt in the United States, Austria, Brazil, Germany, the Russian Empire and Argentina.

## People named Schmidt

- Brian Schmidt, American-born Australian astrophysicist
- Kendall Schmidt, American musician, singer, songwriter and actor
- Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball player (1958–2026)
- Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer, cellist and pianist (1874-1939)
- Bernhard Schmidt, Baltic German astronomer (1879-1935)
- Friedrich von Schmidt, Austrian architect (1825–1891)
- João Schmidt, Brazilian association football player
- Luís Eduardo Schmidt, Brazilian footballer
- Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt, astronomer and geophysicist from Germany (1825-1884)
- Friedrich Schmidt, Baltic German geologist and botanist (1832–1908)
- Karl Patterson Schmidt, American herpetologist (1890–1957)
- Kevin Schmidt, American actor

and 39 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Schmitt, Schmid, Schmit, Smidt, Schwindt, Schwandt, Schwind, Smith, Sneed, Snead, Smyth, Smoot.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.