This interesting and unusual surname is English but of Germanic origins where its is also recorded in various forms. It derives from an Old German pre 5th century personal name, 'Folco', which translates as 'people'. This name was used in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066, but was re-introduced and spread by them afterwards, and as a personal name it is recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The modern surname from these sources has at least twenty-five forms includng Folk, Foulkes, Fule, Fulk, Fewkes, Foakes, Fooks, Foukx, and Fowkes. In the southern counties of England the more typical spellings have the 'f' replaced with a 'v', as in Voak, Vokes, Volke and Volkes. Early examples of the the surname recording include the marriage of Henry Foulkes and Agnes Hall at St. Botolph's church, Bishopsgate, in the city of London, on January 20th 1594, whilst the first recorded spelling of the family name is probably that of Peter Fulch. This was dated 1198, in the tax charters known as the 'Feet of Fines' for the county of Somerset, during the reign of King Richard 1st of England, 1189-1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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