FOOKES
The surname Fookes is of English origin and its earliest roots lie in Old Norse and Old German personal names. The medieval given name Fulk was derived from the Old Norse word Fulkr, meaning “defence” or “warder”, and later from the Old German Fulco or Folco, translating as “people”. The transition from these given names to a family surname was through the patronymic tradition, whereby a descendant could be identified as “son of Fulk” or “son of Fulco”, eventually producing the surname Fookes.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 the name appears in the forms Folco and Fulco. Subsequent medieval records show a progressive series of spellings: Fuke (1166), Fulk (1177), Fouke (1255) and Folkes (1279). By the late fifteenth century the spelling had stabilised as Fookes, though a range of variants survived, including Fooks, Foulkes, Falkes, Fewkes, Foakes and the southern forms Vokes and Volke. These variations are well documented in local court rolls, wills and parish registers.
A notable early reference is to Peter Fulch, dated 1198 in the Feet of Fines for Somersetshire, during the reign of King Richard I. The family record is further illustrated by the marriage of Henry Foulkes and Agnes Hall, which was recorded at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London, on 20 January 1594. Such entries confirm both the existence of the surname in the late Middle Ages and its use as a hereditary identifier.
During the British colonial expansion the surname Fookes was carried beyond the United Kingdom and can now be found in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and various European countries. Modern surname databases indicate that, while still uncommon, the name remains most densely concentrated in England, with particular concentrations historically in Dorset and Leicester.
The name Fookes retains its patronymic character without an inherent meaning in contemporary English; it functions as a linkage to ancestral lineage, preserving the history of those who first bore the name in the early medieval period.
Typical given names associated with the Fookes surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- Craig
- David
- Geoff
- Glen
- James
- John
- Paul
- Richard
- Robert
- Roger
- Simon
- Will
Female
- Anita
- Catherine
- Christine
- Daphne
- Diana
- Eileen
- Gillian
- Katherine
- Kerry
- Mary
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Fookes in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 235 people named Fookes in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around four in a million people in Britain are named Fookes.
Famous people named Fookes
- Janet Fookes - Politician
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.