Fawkes is a surname of Norman-French origin, first appearing in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

after the

Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...

in 1066. The surname may be a corruption of the Norman surname Vaux, which means valley. Notably, Guy Fawkes was sometimes recorded as Guy Vaux. An alternative origin for the surname is that it originates from the pre-6th century Germanic given name of ''Falco'' (later ''Faulques'') meaning "falcon". The first recorded spelling of the surname in England is that of one Geoffrey Faukes in 1221. It is also, less frequently, a

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

People

Surname

* Barbara Fawkes (1914–2002), British nurse and nursing educator *

Francis Fawkes Francis Fawkes (1720–1777) was an English poet and translator. He translated works by Anacreon, Sappho and other classical authors, modernised parts of the poems of Gavin Douglas, and was the author of the well-known song, ''The Brown Jug'', a ...

(1721–1777), English poet and translator *

Frederick Fawkes Major Frederick Hawksworth Fawkes (1870 – 1 February 1936) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. Fawkes was the son of the Rev. Frederick Fawkes of Farnley Hall, North Yorkshire. He was educated at Eton College a ...

(1870–1936), British Conservative Party politician *

George Fawkes Rear Admiral George Barney Hamley Fawkes CB, CVO, CBE (4 September 1903 – 26 July 1967) was a Royal Navy officer who became Flag Officer Submarines. Naval career Fawkes joined the Royal Navy in 1920. He became commanding officer of the s ...

(1903-1967), British admiral *

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

(1570–1606), English revolutionary * Isaac Fawkes (1675?-1732), English conjurer and showman * John Fawkes (born 1933), English cricketer * Marion Fawkes (born 1948), First official female racewalking world champion *

Randol Fawkes Sir Randol Francis Fawkes (20 March 1924 – 15 June 2000) was a Bahamian politician, trade unionist and lawyer. He served as Member of Parliament for the St. Barnabas constituency and for a short time as a Cabinet Minister in the first Pindlin ...

(1924–2000), Bahamian civil rights activist, author, musician * Richard Fawkes (born 1944), British writer and director *

Wally Fawkes Walter Ernest Fawkes (born 21 June 1924) is a British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and satirical cartoonist. As a cartoonist, he usually worked under the name "Trog" until failing eyesight forced him to retire in 2005 at the age of 81. Early hist ...

(born 1924), British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and cartoonist *

Walter Fawkes Walter Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes (2 March 1769 – 24 October 1825) was a Yorkshire landowner, writer and Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire from 1806 to 1807. Biography Walter Fawkes was born at Hawkesworth Hall, near Guiseley, into an ...

(1769–1825), British landowner and politician, patron of painter J. M. W. Turner *

Wilmot Fawkes Admiral Sir Wilmot Hawksworth Fawkes, (22 December 1846 – 29 May 1926) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. Naval career Fawkes joined the Royal Navy in 1860 and by 1867 had been promoted to lieutenant. He s ...

(1846–1926), Royal Navy officer, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

Given name

* Fawkes de Breauté, (died 1226), Anglo-Norman soldier who served in the First Barons' War

Pseudonym

* Guido Fawkes, a pseudonym of British right-wing political blogger

Paul Staines Paul De Laire Staines (born 11 February 1967) is a British-Irish right-wing political blogger who publishes the Guido Fawkes website, which was described by ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "one of Britain's leading political blogsites" in 2007.Graeme ...

Fictional characters

* Jamison Fawkes (aka Junkrat), playable character in the 2016 video game ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fe ...

'' * Darien Fawkes, main character of the television series ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devo ...

'' * Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix in the ''Harry Potter'' books * Fawkes, on the web series '' The Guild'', portrayed by

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film '' Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' Toy Soldiers'', ...

* Fawkes, a

Super Mutant Super Mutants are a fictional race of posthuman beings from the post-apocalyptic ''Fallout'' video game franchise. Within series lore, Super Mutants are originally ordinary human beings that have been mutated to be much larger and stronger as a ...

character from the 2008 video game ''Fallout 3''

Others

* Fawkes (image cloaking software) - a free software meant to defeat face recognition by AI software

References

{{given name, type=both Surnames of British Isles origin