Where did the name "Sniffin" come from?

Sometimes during my early years, I often wished that my last name were Johnson or Smith or Jones. My classmates with those last names never got their name misspelled

Now with the name "Sniffin," my brothers and I were often subjected to all sorts of indignities. "Sniff" became a nickname and inevitably people on the phone thought that your name is Smithen or Sneffen or Smitten or something like that.

I think our family name probably originally was Kniffin or Knifton, back in Merry Olde England, where some of my ancestors came from.

The story goes that people in that part of the country were skilled in making knives, which is where that word supposedly came from - or at least it does in my favorite story about the origin of our family name.

People who came to this country and were checked in at Ellis Island, gave their names as Kniffin, pronounced "Niffin" - which was misinterpreted by the person signing them in, as "Sniffin."

Thus, for centuries and generations now, people who originally had the proud name Kniffin connected with the construction of the best quality Knives in the world - somehow, became known as Sniffin here in the New World.

And that's my favorite story about the possible origin of my family name.