Colfox Surname

5,213,395th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 14 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
England

Colfox Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the colfox,' a crafty fellow; literally 'coal-fox, a fox with black marks'; compare Stelfox.

'A col-fox, ful of sleigh iniquitee.': Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales.

Ricardus Colvox, Salop, 1273.

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Colfox Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England141:3,979,861125,553
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England51:4,875,074116,529

Colfox Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the colfox,' a crafty fellow; literally 'coal-fox, a fox with black marks'; compare Stelfox.

'A col-fox, ful of sleigh iniquitee.': Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales.

Ricardus Colvox, Salop, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Thomas Colfox, 1511: Register of the University of Oxford.

1550. Buried — Annes Coolefox: St. Peter, Cornhill.

'Mr. Colefax met Lord Randolph Churchill on the Bradford railway platform': Yorkshire Post, Oct. 27, 1886.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) a nickname or sign-name from the Black Fox [Old English col- (coal-) black + fox]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

The same as the Colvox of the H.R., whatever that may be.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Colfox Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Colfox Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Colfox is found most frequently in England. It can occur as a variant:. Click here for further potential spellings of this last name.

How Common Is The Last Name Colfox? popularity and diffusion

The last name Colfox is the 5,213,395th most frequently held last name internationally It is held by around 1 in 520,538,994 people. This last name occurs mostly in Europe, where 100 percent of Colfox live; 100 percent live in Northern Europe and 100 percent live in British Isles.

This surname is most commonly held in England, where it is held by 14 people, or 1 in 3,979,861. In England it is mostly found in: Dorset, where 79 percent live, Cheshire, where 7 percent live and Lancashire, where 7 percent live.

Colfox Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Colfox has changed through the years. In England the number of people bearing the Colfox last name expanded 280 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Coalfox920/
Colfax83211/
Calfox836/
Colfos830/
Colfix830/
Colefax77286/
Colfaux7745/
Calafox771/
Coalfax770/
Cahlifox711/
Calfos67118/
Colfaz672/
Chaulfoux671/
Coolfocus671/

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Colfox
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis