You hear about that gay Irish couple? Gerald Fitzpatrick and Patrick Fitzgerald.
The prefix Fitz- means “bastard son of,” according to my high school English teacher. So… the joke just got funnier, depending on your sense of humour.
It depended on the time and place. Fitzroy is particularly associated with illegitimate children of the king, but until the 17th century revival of the Fitz prefix, it was mostly just meaning “son of” without any particular inclination towards or against legitimacy. But in the Stuart era it was frequently used for illegitimate children of royalty and nobility.
I think if you’re the son of a gibbon, it doesn’t much matter whether you’re a bastard or not.
I do find history and etymology very interesting, but I didn’t know any of this. It’s literally all taken from the Wikipedia page for the name Fitz.
I just gave it a listen today on my bike ride. It’s pretty good - not what I expected but not surprising, either. I’d characterize it as Kate Bush meets Dead Can Dance meets early ‘70s King Crimson, and since I like all three of those acts I like Gibbons’ album as well. I was surprised to see that it’s her first solo album.
I love my last name, it translates roughly to “those people over there past the tree”
Seriously, also I wonder if there are peoples with the same surname that aren’t in my family tree, cause I am sure it’s more of a name of a village than a family. Keeping surnames is so weird though, very weird feudal tradition and honestly I think having a unique last name is more interesting in general. My partner changed her name to something unique she’s the only one with that surname. I kept mine cause I think it’s just so interesting, but part of me wishes I changed it, if not drastically then to the feminine version of the name as the language it’s in is gendered.
One of my life goals is living in a house over a hill where the specific tree from my last name is planted.
My surname translates to the suffering one :(
‘Gaylord’
Town Jester? Threw the best parties?
I have read random weird news articles about modern people who have it as a last name, I swear.