The f-word

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>The "John le Fucker" reference first appears in Carl Buck's 1949
>Indo-European dictionary. Buck does not supply a citation as to where he
>found the name. No one has subsequently found the manuscript in which it is
>alleged to have appeared.
>
>If the citation is genuine and not an error, it is most likely a spelling
>variant of "fulcher," meaning soldier.

Oxford "Dictionary of English Surnames", under "Fulcher" (with many
spelling variants):

"... Nicholas Fuker' 1234 ... Warin Fucher 1235 ... John Foucher' 1242 ...
from OFr Foucher, Fouquier, from OG Fulchar, Fulcher 'people-army'."

-- Doug Wilson