Find out how popular the last name Foulk is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Foulk.

Foulk, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Foulk surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Foulk in America

Foulk is the 13115th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Foulk surname appeared 2,337 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Foulk.

We can also compare 2010 data for Foulk to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Foulk

The surname FOULK is of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the personal name Fulk, a Germanic name meaning "people" or "folk". This name was introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is believed that the name was first established in Staffordshire, England, where some of the earliest records of the surname can be found.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record from Oxfordshire mentions a landowner named Fulco. This is considered one of the earliest documented instances of the name in England. Over time, the spelling of the surname evolved to include variations such as Foulk, Foulke, and Fowlke.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname FOULK was Sir Adam Foulk, a knight who lived in Staffordshire during the 13th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Thomas Foulk, who served as a member of parliament for Staffordshire in the late 14th century.

In the 16th century, the surname FOULK was found in various parts of England, including Staffordshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. One prominent individual from this era was John Foulk, a merchant and alderman of the City of London, who lived from around 1520 to 1585.

The surname FOULK also has a connection to place names in England. For example, the village of Foulk in Staffordshire is believed to be named after an early bearer of the surname.

Moving into the 17th century, one notable individual with the surname FOULK was Roger Foulk, a Puritan minister who emigrated from England to Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s. He served as a minister in several towns, including Hingham and Salem.

Another significant bearer of the name was Benjamin Foulk, an American soldier and farmer who lived from 1741 to 1819. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Pennsylvania, where he became a prominent landowner.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the surname FOULK continued to be found in various parts of England and the United States. Notable individuals from this period included John Foulk, an American politician and businessman born in 1789, and William Dudley Foulk, an American author and reformer born in 1848.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Foulk

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Foulk.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Foulk was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Foulk has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Foulk was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Foulk, please contact us.

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