Folkerts History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Folkerts reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Folkerts family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Folkerts is based on the Germanic personal name Fulcher. It is composed of the elements folk, which means people, and hari, which means army.

Early Origins of the Folkerts family

The surname Folkerts was first found in Lincolnshire and Derbyshire where they were granted lands about the time of William the Conqueror. Historically, the Fulchers were known as the Champions of Burgundy and records were found of the name spelt Fulchere in Normandy (1180-1195). 1 The name could have also been derived from the Ango-Saxon word "folgere", in other words a follower, an attendant, a free-man who did not have a house of his own. 2

Early History of the Folkerts family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Folkerts research. Another 168 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1170, 1272, 1273, 1284, 1307, 1379, 1617, 1690, 1737, 1795, 1803, 1830, 1855 and 1893 are included under the topic Early Folkerts History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Folkerts Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Folkerts are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Folkerts include Fulcher, Fulger, Fulker, Fucher, Fullager, Folker, Foucar, Foulger, Futcher, Folger, Fugler, Fuche, Fuge, Fuidge, Fudge, Foutch and many more.

Early Notables of the Folkerts family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Walter Fulcher of Lincolnshire, Thomas Fulcher (1737-1803), a British architect, George Williams Fulcher (1795-1855), a well-known poet, and John...
Another 26 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Folkerts Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Folkerts Ranking

In the United States, the name Folkerts is the 14,912^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Folkerts family to Ireland

Some of the Folkerts family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Folkerts family

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Folkerts, or a variant listed above: John Folger, who settled in Massachusetts in 1630; John Fulcher, who purchased land in Virginia in 1652; William Fulcher, who came to Maryland in 1669.

Contemporary Notables of the name Folkerts (post 1700) +

Roy Folkerts, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from South Dakota, 1948 4
F. Charles Folkerts, American Republican politician, Postmaster at Algonac, Michigan, 1871 4
Clyton Folkerts (1897-1964), American aircraft designer of the Folkerts SK-1, Folkerts SK-2, and Folkerts SK-3 that won at the National Air Races
Luuk Folkerts (b. 1963), Dutch politician and environmental consultant
Ulrike Folkerts (b. 1961), German actress

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html