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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2016 September 14

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September 14

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Double X in Names

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Apparently Jamie Foxx took his surname as a tribute to Redd Foxx, who himself took it from baseball player Jimmie Foxx. The latter got it the usual way, from his father. But where would that unusual spelling have originated? Rojomoke (talk) 15:00, 14 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This page [1] about surnames lists several names related to "Foxx" that include a double X, e.g. Foxxy, Foxxe, Fixx, Faxx, Voxx. Most of those are listed as most prevalent in the USA, where we have a long history of changing spellings of surnames. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:11, 14 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]
This book has some interesting notes on the family of Jimmie Foxx and the origin of the family name. It also has references for further study. --Jayron32 17:48, 14 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Swish! Canada leads the world in another important category! Matt Deres (talk) 19:07, 14 September 2016 (UTC) [reply]