User:Bpefisk/sandbox

The FISK surname and its variants in English Speaking Countries.

FISK, FISKE, FISKS, FISKES and FISKER are all variants of the same name and until spelling became uniform in Victorian times they should be treated as the same surname. The name is closely related to the surnames FISH and FISHER.

In the UK the name originates solely from East Anglia and is most probably the result of local dialect. In Old English the word for Fish is Fisk (as it is in much of Scandinavia). It appears that in East Anglia the hard 'K' must have lingered after the rest of the country softened the pronunciation and spelling of Fisk to Fish. Further information can be found at http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Fisk.

The name is found principally in the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. In the USA and Canada the surname has two origins, settlers from Scandinavian and Germanic countries and settlers from the UK. Early FISK settlers from the UK came to what is now New England from the 1630s hence this part of the USA is where most FISKs can be found. In the UK the surname originates from East Anglia from where it has spread slowly to the rest of the UK and to other commonwealth countries principally Australia and New Zealand.

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