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

Fox, 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 Fox surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fox in America

Fox is the 180th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fox surname appeared 152,334 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 52 people would have the surname Fox.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fox 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 Fox

The surname Fox is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "fox" which referred to the animal. It likely originated as a nickname for someone who was considered cunning or crafty, or perhaps someone who was known for hunting foxes.

The name can be traced back to the 11th century and is found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land and property ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname is William le Fox, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1195.

The surname Fox may also have been derived from place names such as Foxhall, Foxcote, or Foxley, which were often descriptive of areas where foxes were found or hunted. These place names can be found in various counties across England, including Norfolk, Suffolk, and Wiltshire.

In the 13th century, the surname Fox appeared in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were records of land ownership and taxation in England. One notable entry was that of Richard le Fox from Oxfordshire.

Throughout history, there have been several prominent individuals with the surname Fox. One of the earliest was John Fox, an English Protestant martyrologist who lived from 1516 to 1587. He is best known for his work "Acts and Monuments," popularly known as the "Book of Martyrs," which documented the persecution of Protestants during the reign of Queen Mary I.

Another famous bearer of the name was George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers. He was a prominent figure in the religious and social movements of the 17th century and played a significant role in advocating for religious tolerance and non-violence.

In the realm of literature, Charles James Fox (1749-1806) was a prominent British statesman and orator who served as the Leader of the House of Commons and Foreign Secretary. He was a vocal supporter of the American Revolution and a champion of parliamentary reform.

Moving to the 19th century, John Foxe (1816-1892) was an English industrialist and inventor who developed the first commercially successful compound textile weaving machine, known as the Foxe's Circular Loom.

In the field of science, Sir William Fox Talbot (1800-1877) was an English photographer and pioneer in the development of photographic processes, including the calotype process, which laid the groundwork for modern photography.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fox

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

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 Fox 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 Fox 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 Fox was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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