Antoine Fuqua
Fuqua in 2009, photo by Prphotos.com
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Birth: January 19, 1966
Ethnicity: African-American
Antoine Fuqua is an American filmmaker and comic artist. He has directed The Replacement Killers, Training Day, and The Equalizer, among other films.
The surname Fuqua occurs among African-Americans. Antoine is married to actress Lela Rochon. He has three children, including two with Lela.
He has said that he prefers not to be called a “Black filmmaker,” and be known as simply a filmmaker.
Antoine is a nephew of rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive Harvey Fuqua, of the band the Moonglows, and a great-nephew of musician Charlie Fuqua, of the Ink Spots.
Cool surname
It is quite a rare name, though it’s been in the U.S. since colonial times. There is a city in North Carolina named Fuquay-Varina; it’s an old French surname with various different spellings. I’d not be surprised if he has ancestors from this area of the state.
North Carolina is a possibility, he might have ancestry from one of the African countries colonized by the French like Congo or Senegal even I guess that can be another guess too
Any connection he may have with Africa is almost certainly not his connection with the surname. The surname is almost certainly locally adopted, and most likely from the town, which was named after its founder.
@Oaken05
According to various reports, the surname started in US after a French Huguenot immigrant, Guillaume Fouquet.
@Oaken
There are white people in US who have a West African-derived surname in their family tree. It’s rare and quite amazing.
I find two here:
https://ethnicelebs.com/michael-mckean
https://ethnicelebs.com/carey-hart
Google “Edward Mozingo”.
I know that; I’m African American. It’s not really what we’re talking about, though. Fuqua is the derivation of a European name.
Interesting surname