| Defaux | |
| Region: | Belgium, France |
| Origin: | Ultimately from Old French fou, fau, "beech" from Latin fagus; or from Germanic falisa, "cliff" |
| Cognate: | De Fauw, Faux, Dufaux, Defau |
Defaux is a surname popular in Belgium and northeastern France.
Like its cognates/variants De Fauw and Faux, it could derive from fou, fau (Old French for "beech"); be a toponymic surname indicating origin from a place called Faux or Faulx (possibly Faulx-les-Tombes in Wallonia, Belgium; Faux, Court-Saint-Étienne, Belgium; Wavrechain-sous-Faulx in the Nord department; a commune in Pas-de-Calais, or one in the Ardennes)[1] [2] [3] or derive from the adjective "faux" (Middle French: "faulx").[2]
The etymology of the place names in Belgium is ultimately from Latin fagus ("beech") via Old French fou, fau, or from Germanic *falisa, "cliff".[2]
Notable people with the name include: