Fitzgerald as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Fitzgerald

What is the meaning of the name Fitzgerald ?

The baby name Fitzgerald is a Male name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈfɪtsdʒərəld/ (FITZ-jər-əld).

Fitzgerald is in Origin.

An Anglo-Norman patronymic turned given name, Fitzgerald joins the prefix fitz, meaning "son" (from Old French fiz/fils via Latin filius), with Gerald, a Germanic compound of ger "spear" and wald "rule." The literal sense is "son of Gerald," with an extended meaning of "descendant of the spear-ruler." As a surname it became emblematic in Ireland through the powerful FitzGerald dynasties of Kildare and Desmond, and it appears widely across the English-speaking world via Norman settlement and later migration.

As a first name, Fitzgerald is rare but stylish in the modern surname-as-given trend, often chosen to honor literary or musical associations: novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, jazz great Ella Fitzgerald, and President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (as a famed middle name). Variants and related forms include FitzGerald and Fitz-Gerald; the Irish equivalent of the surname is Mac Gearailt. Nicknames range from Fitz to Gerry, and cognate given names include Gerald and Gerard.