Worfolk Family History

English (Yorkshire of Norman origin): nickname recorded as Wirefalch in the 12th century possibly from Middle English wirien ‘to slay, kill brutally, injure, strangle’ (Old English wirigan + Anglo-Norman French falch, fauc ‘falcon’).

Alternatively, it might be from a word akin in form and sense to Anglo-Norman French girfauc ‘gyrfalcon’ (a species of large falcon used for hunting herons) in which case the name may have been given to a family of hereditary falconers specialising in breeding and training the bird.

The substitution of W- for (soft) G- is difficult to explain, however. Compare Woolfolk.