Fitzgerald
Mac Gearailt · son of Gerald
Fitzgerald is Mac Gearailt in Irish, said mak GAR-ilt, and means son of Gerald.
Fitz is Norman French for son of, and the Geraldines were the most powerful Norman family in Ireland. The Kildare branch ruled the country in all but name in the fifteenth century.
How it changes
- A man: Mac Gearailt
- His daughter: Nic Gearailt
- A woman who married into it: Bean Mhic Gearailt
- The family together: Mhic Gearailt
Where it comes from
Kildare and Desmond
Also spelt
Fitzgerald, Fitzgerrald, Gerald
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.