here in sweden a goodly chunk of surnames are just straight up made up, shit like “nyquist” which even at the time was a hilariously pretentious way to spell “nykvist” and just means “new branch”.
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.
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.
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 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 think if you’re the son of a gibbon, it doesn’t much matter whether you’re a bastard or not.
You hear about that gay Irish couple? Gerald Fitzpatrick and Patrick Fitzgerald.
My surname means doctor, yeah don’t be fooled
‘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.
