Foch

This is a surname which in its some forty national spellings from Fox, Foxe & Foxman (English & Irish), Foch (France), Fochs, Fuchs, Fuchsel, Voske, Vossgen and Voss (German), to Voss, De Vos & Focks (Dutch & Flemish) and Fucks, Fucksman and Fuxman (Askenasic) is recorded throughout Europe. The derivation is from the pre 7th century Olde English and German Fox or Fock, or the Irish Sionnaigh. All mean 'fox' and all were originally a personal name of great antiquity or a medieval complimentary nickname for a person admired for his speed and cunning, the attributes of the animal. Examples of early recordings taken from authentic rolls, registers and charters in different countries include: Daniel Fuhs, given as being a burger of Koln, Germany, in the year 1198, Hugo le Foxe, in the accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall for the year 1297, and Johannes Fox, "a smyth", noted in the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire. In Ireland in the provinces of Connacht, Leinster and Ulster, the surname Fox is an anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "Mac a'tSionnaigh" meaning the son of the Fox. Sir Patrick Fox of Moyvore, County Westmeath, Ireland, was the state interpreter of Irish in 1568, whilst John Fox, aged 35 yrs., who embarked from London on the ship "Abigall" bound for New England in June 1635, was one of the first emigrants to the New World. Throughout the centuries surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.