Defoe

FOREBEARS According to family historians, the name Defoe or Dafoe was brought to North America from Switzerland in 1709 by a certain Daniel Dafoe, alias Deffu, Thevou, or Thevoz. A burgher family named Thevoz has lived in Missy, Vaud canton, Switzerland, since at least 1458.The name is also established in England, where it was borne by the novelist, satirist, pamphleteer, and spy Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), author of Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, and many other works. His father, a Dissenter, by trade a butcher in London, used the name Foe.