Folk
Usually a surname from the Norman personal name Fulco, later appearing in forms like Folkes and Folkes.
The #5,778 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 51,492 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a reduced form of the Norman personal name Fulco, which came into England after the Conquest. That name goes back to an old Germanic element meaning “people” or “folk,” related to names such as Fulke and Fulk. In some cases, the surname may also reflect spelling simplification from related medieval forms like Folkes.
History
Lower explicitly derives Folk and Folkes from the Norman personal name Fulco, and later English records show related surname forms such as Folkes and Fulke. The name is found in England from the medieval period onward, especially in records where Norman forenames were being fixed as hereditary surnames. Because Folk also coincides with the common English word, later spellings could be visually misleading, but the surname itself is usually not from the modern noun.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same medieval name family produced several surnames that look quite different today, including Folk, Folke, Fulke, and Folkes.
From the historical record
“to Sir Thomas Foljambe, who was bailifl of the High Peak, co. Derby, in 1272. FOLK. FOLKES. A corruption of the Norman personal name Fulco, from whence also Fulke. FOLKARD. FOLKERD, Fulcher or Fulcherus, a Domesd. name, is doubt- less the same as Folchard or Folcaid, borne by an eminent Flemish scholar, who settled…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom