Fogg Family History

English (northern): possibly a variant of Fowke (see Foulk). It may derive from Middle English fogge ‘aftermath’ (i.e. grass left to grow after the hay has been cut also applied to long grass in a water meadow) especially in northern England where the term occurs as a specifying element in minor placenames but as it is not found on its own as a simplex name the derivation is doubtful without some supporting evidence.

The word fogge, which is probably of Old Norse origin, is still in use as a dialect term in Craven, Yorkshire, and in eastern Lancashire.

Modern English fog ‘thick mist’ is first attested in the 16th century and is unlikely to be the source of the surname.