Fawkes

Fawkes
PronunciationFawks, IPA: [fɔːks]
Language(s)Norman
Origin
MeaningValley or Falcon
Region of originBritish Isles
Other names
Variant form(s)Fakes, Faulks, Faulkes, Fawks, Fawlks, Fawlkes, Foulks, Foulkes, Fowkes
[1][2]

Fawkes is a surname of Norman-French origin, first appearing in the British Isles after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.[1] The surname may be a corruption of the Norman surname Vaux, which means valley.[2] Notably, Guy Fawkes was sometimes recorded as Guy Vaux.[3] An alternative origin for the surname is that it originates from the pre-6th century Germanic given name of Falco (later Faulques) meaning "falcon".[1] The first recorded spelling of the surname in England is that of one Geoffrey Faukes in 1221.[1]

It is also, less frequently, a given name.

People

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Surname

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  • Barbara Fawkes (1914–2002), British nurse and nursing educator
  • Francis Fawkes (1721–1777), English poet and translator
  • Frederick Fawkes (1870–1936), British Conservative Party politician
  • George Fawkes (1903–1967), British admiral
  • Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), English revolutionary
  • Isaac Fawkes (1675?–1732), English conjurer and showman
  • John Fawkes (born 1933), English cricketer
  • Marion Fawkes (born 1948), First official female racewalking world champion
  • Randol Fawkes (1924–2000), Bahamian civil rights activist, author, musician
  • Richard Fawkes (1944–2020), British writer and director
  • Wally Fawkes (1924–2023), British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and cartoonist
  • Walter Fawkes (1769–1825), British landowner and politician, patron of painter J. M. W. Turner
  • Wilmot Fawkes (1846–1926), Royal Navy officer, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

Given name

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Pseudonym

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  • Guido Fawkes, a pseudonym of British right-wing political blogger Paul Staines

Fictional characters

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Last name: Fawkes". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Fawkes". British Surnames. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. ^ Howe, N.G. (21 February 2019). Statesmen in Caricature: The Great Rivalry of Fox and Pitt the Younger in the Age of the Political Cartoon. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 1786736713.