# How do you pronounce the last name: Fuchs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669 "2011-03-23T01:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/1 "2011-03-23T01:06:13Z")
The title says it all. I really don’t want to say it the wrong way. Googling my question shows 4 ways to pronounce it but the site does not indicate which version is more commonly used. I want to be professional and not just call them by their first name. (In the past, I have been very straight-forward and said at the beginning of the conversation: “I’m really not sure how to pronounce your last name”) Dopers help me out! ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/2 "2011-03-23T01:11:31Z")
The family I knew pronounced it fyoo-khs (“kh” is an aspirated “h” sound like the “ch” in Achtung!) Most of their children changed their name to “Fox” which is what “Fuchs” means. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/3 "2011-03-23T01:17:23Z")
My friend Dan Fuchs pronounces it Fyooks as well. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/4 "2011-03-23T01:18:52Z")
Fyooks. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/5 "2011-03-23T01:19:17Z")
[Click for German pronunciation.](http://www.forvo.com/word/fuchs/) It differs from how the people I knew pronounced it. They pronounced the vowel as “yoo” whereas the German speaker pronounces it as “oo.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/6 "2011-03-23T02:00:42Z")
A family I know pronounces it _Fewsh._ The father is German-born, so I suspect he was called that over here and went with it for convenience. Good time for this story: > [@](#): > > Headline after the atomic spy Klaus Fuchs was released from prison in 1959 and went to East Germany - FREED FUCHS DUCKS BEHIND IRON CURTAIN. > > Groucho Marx saw this and wrote to one of his brothers, ‘Is this Arthur Freed who used to produce for MGM?’ ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/7 "2011-03-23T02:07:03Z")
The family I knew with that name pronounced it fox. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/8 "2011-03-23T02:11:16Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > The family I knew with that name pronounced it fox. I’d be concerned someone would see the spelling, mishear the pronunciation and start calling me Fucks. 😃 Similarly you get Koch, which is often pronounced Cook, and Schumacher, sometimes pronounced Shoemaker. Wall Street banker John Gutfreund pronounces it Goodfriend. All the above are straight translations from German - only the pronunciation changes. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/9 "2011-03-23T04:02:52Z")
My dear cousin married a dude named Fuchs, and his family pronounces it “Fox.” ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/10 "2011-03-23T04:09:55Z")
I’ve always heard it as “fyooks” but “fox” wouldn’t seem strange to me. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/11 "2011-03-23T04:26:34Z")
I asked my mom how it was pronounced when I was at my high school graduation. She said “fyooks” (rhymes with “pukes”). This was right after my poor classmate who was up on the podium reading out names called for our fellow student Ms. Fuchs. Apparently he didn’t know not to rhyme it with “ducks,” and had the disadvantage of not having his mom next to him. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/12 "2011-03-23T04:28:47Z")
I have two friends with this last name. One pronounces it “Fyooks”, and the other “Fooks” (rhyming with “books”). ---
**Author:** ![Kewk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ab992/32.png) [@Kewk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kewk)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/13 "2011-03-23T04:32:56Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Similarly you get Koch, which is often pronounced Cook, and Schumacher, sometimes pronounced Shoemaker. Wall Street banker John Gutfreund pronounces it Goodfriend. I have two different friends with the last name Koch. One says Cook the other says Coke… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/14 "2011-03-23T05:11:52Z")
I would say “fyooks”, based on a girl I went to school with. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/15 "2011-03-23T05:17:00Z")
The people I knew pronounced it simply as fox. I suppose that was the best solution for them. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/16 "2011-03-23T05:48:24Z")
This thread reminds me of [this village](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria) whose name rhymes with _booking_. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/17 "2011-03-23T05:57:40Z")
I guess I will have to stay with my standard statement “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to properly say your last name.” That’s what I said to the gentleman whose last name had 18 letters in it. (when he signed his name, he only used the first 6 letters.) ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/18 "2011-03-23T06:08:14Z")
I work with a man named Fuchs, he pronounces it “fyooks”. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/19 "2011-03-23T07:34:33Z")
I’ve heard it pronounced as rhyming with ‘books’ but really, it just comes across as a someone with a foreign accent saying ‘fucks’. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/20 "2011-03-23T07:39:27Z")
Fyooks (rhymes with pukes). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669.md?page=2)