The Smart name is thought to have an Anglo Saxon origins meaning quick,
active or prompt. It has several spelling variations including: Smert,
Smarte, Smartt.
The name can be traced back to the ancient
Saxon territories of England.
The name Smart appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as owning land in
Devon.
Between the 11th and 12th centuries
the name appeared in ancient medieval records
in Suffolk when a Lifwinus Smart was documented in
1180.
Other famous Smarts'
are Sir John Smart, who was a Garter Knight in the reign of
Edward IV (1461 - 1483),
William
Smart,
who joined the outlawed Clan MacGregor in
Scotland in 1612,
and the religious poet
Christopher Smart (1722 - 1771).
Smart's were
amongst the early settlers in North America and the West Indies.
