The surname of Fox is of what decent?

Question

My momma is a "Fox" Is that Irish? My Pappy is a "Stafford" is that English or Irish...or something? ( HA HA MY HUSBAND IS A SMITH)

Answer 1

Tina has a great in depth answer as to the various sources of the name. What she has is called "surname etymology". If we were not talking genealogy, it would refer to the origin of a word itself. This is a common question here, and my approach is a bit different. Many people believe that if their name comes from a certain location, that "makes" them Irish (German, French, etc). So, what happens, when a name comes from more than one place?

YOUR ancestry (ie mom's) is actually defined by the actual ancestor and their origin. In other words, if her gr gr grandfather Fox was born in Dublin, then mom has Irish ancestry which passes down to you. Same is true for all the last names in your tree. Notice that women use the maiden name for their lineage. After all, the married name is acquired by marriage (duh). Your name changes when you marry, but that is not your heritage.

Bottom line is that surname origin is a valid question/ topic in itself. It IS NOT the same as your genealogy, which involves researching records that prove exactly who each of your ancestors were..and from which country they actually came. You can debate where a name comes from (some being created recently, thus coming from no where), but where a PERSON was born, is a factual thing that does not change.

Answer 2

If your surname is Fox, it could be of English, German, or Irish origin. The English name was at first Foxe and then Fox. The German word is Fuchs, often anglicized to Fox. The Irish source is either the Gaelic Sionnach or the Anglo-Norman de Bosque. In each case, the root is the animal, the fox.

Answer 3

Fox Name Meaning and History

1. English: nickname from the animal, Middle English, Old English fox. It may have denoted a cunning individual or been given to someone with red hair or for some other anecdotal reason. This relatively common and readily understood surname seems to have absorbed some early examples of less transparent surnames derived from the Germanic personal names mentioned at Faulks and Foulks.

2. Irish: part translation of Gaelic Mac an tSionnaigh ‘son of the fox’ (see Tinney).

3. Jewish (American): translation of the Ashkenazic Jewish surname Fuchs.

4. Americanized spelling of Focks, a North German patronymic from the personal name Fock (see Volk).

5. Americanized spelling of Fochs, a North German variant of Fuchs, or in some cases no doubt a translation of Fuchs itself.

http://www.ancestry.com/facts/fox-family-history.ashx



Fox Surname:

As a surname Fox is found recorded all over the British Isles with great frequency, as would be expected of a soubriquet likely to be handed down as being complimentary. The derivation is from the Middle English "fox", itself coming from the Olde English pre 7th Century "fox". The fox was universally admired for his speed and cunning, attributes which the first namebearer undoubtedly possessed. The surname first appears on record in the latter part of the 13th Century. Other early recordings include: Hugo le Fox, (Cornwall, 1297), and Johannes Fox, "a smyth", noted in the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire. A notable namebearer mentioned in the "Dictionary of National Biography" was Richard Fox (1448 - 1528), bishop and statesman, who shared in the first years of Henry V111's reign, and founded for the secular clergy, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1515.An English family of the name settled in County Limerick where they became extensive landowners and gave their name to Mountfox, near Kilmallock; however, in the provinces of Connacht, Leinster and Ulster, Fox is mainly an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "Mac a'tSionnaigh" (son of the Fox). Sir Patrick Fox of Moyvore, County Westmeath, was State Interpreter (of Irish) in 1568. John Fox, aged 35 yrs., who embarked from London on the ship "Abigall" bound for New England in June 1635, was an early emigrant to the New World. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Fox, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/fox#ixzz0yXPNdT37



Stafford Name Meaning and History

English: habitational name from any of the various places in England so called, which do not all share the same etymology. The county seat of Staffordshire (which is probably the main source of the surname) is named from Old English stæð ‘landing place’ + ford ‘ford’. Examples in Devon seem to have as their first element Old English stan ‘stone’, and one in Sussex is probably named with Old English steor ‘steer’, ‘bullock’.

http://www.ancestry.com/facts/stafford-family-history.ashx



Stafford Surname

This is an English locational surname of great antiquity and early nobility. It is considered that most nameholders do derive from the county town of Staffordshire recorded as "Stadford" in the Domesday Book of 1086. This translates as "the landing-stage by the ford", from the Old English pre 7th Century "Staef" and "forda", a shallow crossing place. The twin villages of East and West Stafford in Dorset have also provided some nameholders. These appear in the Domesday Book simply as "Stanford" and this implies as slightly different meaning of "the stony ford". In a few cases as well the surname can be topographical, and denote a ford marked with staves. The "Dictionary of National Biography" gives no less than twenty one entries to the name of which the earliest is Ralph de Stafford (1299 - 1372) the first Earl of Stafford, who fought in the great battles of Crecy and Poitiers against the French, and having played a prominent part in those victories, he took on the Scots in 1356. Surprisingly he died in his bed. Other recordings are those of Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon (1439 - 1469). He was not so lucky being executed by Edward 1V, as was Thomas Stafford (1531-1557) who opposed Queen Mary of England (Bloody Mary).Amongst the many interesting recordings was William Stafford, one of the first English settlers in America, being listed in the "Muster of the Inhabitants in Virginia" as resident in "Elizabeth Cittie" in 1625. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Stadford, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book (Staffordshire), during the reign of King William l, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087.

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/stafford#ixzz0z6DLbiPS