Family name origins & meanings
- English (West Midlands) : unexplained; perhaps from Middle English fon(ne) ‘stupid person’, ‘fool’ (origin unknown) or Middle English foun ‘fawn’, ‘young deer’ (from Old French feon, foun, faon).
- Possibly an Americanized spelling of German Fanz, a nickname for a roguish or mischievous person, from Middle High German vanz ‘joker’, ‘rogue’.