# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/41 "2011-03-23T16:46:22Z")
I had a professor Fuchs in college. He pronounced it “fyooks.” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/42 "2011-03-23T18:20:16Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’ve _never_ heard it with the intrusive “y” sound here in the UK. It’s always “Fooks” to rhyme with “Books”. Not that this explains “Fuchsia”, of course. I’ve only heard it once here and once that I recall from an American, and both times it was fooks. [fuks]. But I don’t blame people at all for inserting a glide to take it further away from the naughty word. > [@acsenray](#): > > I had a classmate in high school who insisted on pronouncing it [fjuʃs] – “fyooshsss” – which he and everyone else had to articulate very carefully in order to get right – it came out as [fjuʃ] “fyush” or [fjus] “fyuss” in rapid speech. We all thought that he or someone else in his family just decided to pronounce it that way because they were uncomfortable with the proximity to “fuck.” Was his first name Con? ---
**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, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/43 "2011-03-23T18:20:51Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > This thread reminds me of [this village](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria) whose name rhymes with _booking_. Jeez, all those stolen signs. The town should just sell replicas of the Fucking things. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/44 "2011-03-23T18:54:59Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > This thread reminds me of [this village](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria) whose name rhymes with _booking_. I’ve heard of that town many times before, but that Wiki article is still hilarious. I love that this: > [@](#): > > “What they are, I am not at liberty to disclose, but we will not stand for the Fucking signs being removed. It may be very amusing for you British, but Fucking is simply Fucking to us. What is this big Fucking joke? It is puerile.” Is a direct, and serious, quote. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/45 "2011-03-23T20:04:05Z")
fyooks ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/46 "2011-03-23T23:36:08Z")
I always get a smile out of seeing signs for “Fuchs Lubricants Ltd”. I’m easy to amuse. 🙂 (Also get smiles from a company who make elevators: “Schindler Lifts”) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/47 "2011-03-24T01:38:43Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > No, it’s [fju], like “few.” Perhaps you don’t have the post-consonantal [ju] glide in your accent. Do you rhyme “pews” with “use”? If so, then that pronunciation is incorrect, assuming that would mean that fyooks is the same as fewks. Although I guess once a name comes to America it’s usage gets changed/bastardized. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/48 "2011-03-24T02:09:33Z")
And the winner is . . . Fyooks ! I would like to add a special thanks to the client who said her first and last name on her answering machine. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/49 "2011-03-24T02:33:45Z")
You guys are making this way too hard. Names are just pronounced the way they are spelled. Signed, Brett Favre ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/50 "2011-03-25T19:43:18Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > The family I knew with that name pronounced it fox. And _Fuchs_ does mean “Fox” in German, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/51 "2011-03-27T07:51:36Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > 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: Also DR FUCHS OFF TO AMERICA. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/52 "2011-03-27T08:16:59Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > And _Fuchs_ does mean “Fox” in German, BTW. In my German classes, I was taught to pronounce the vowel the same way as the “ou” in “would” or “could” or the “oo” in “book.” And the “ch” is a K sound. I think encountering Americans with that name, I’d initially go for “fyooks” or “fox,” just to be on the safe side. ---
**Author:** ![Suzfuchs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Suzfuchs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suzfuchs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669/53 "2016-01-12T01:12:29Z")
I know this is an older thread, but I found it very interesting andfunny at times. My maiden name is Fuchs, and boy did I get it all. We pronounce our last name like Dukes but with an F. That is the most common way in the states. Fewer pronounce it Fox. I did know a guy with the last name Fox…or so I thought. We spelled ours the same. Foxcomes from the meaning. Cunning, as in sly fox or someone with red hair. In Germany, many pronounce it Fooks. I have been called back from a waiting room only to hear Suzanne…followed by a long pause. The mispronunciation that frustrates me the most is Futches. How can one get that from Fuchs. Anyway, my married name is very generic, so I don’t have to worry about odd pronunciations, even they were often incorrect followed by a red face. After telling them the proper pronunciation, I’d say, “I know what’s on your mind!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-last-name-fuchs/575669.md?page=2)