Are people with common last names (Miller, Smith, Mayfield etc) the descendants of very large/powerful houses?

by HaplessDiglett
boringtastes

Many common names are derived from occupation or location. Millers worked a mill, Smiths worked as metal workers. Mayfield is most likely a location based name covered in this article

This page from the FAQ covers surnames in detail.

And this link goes into some more details.