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.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

I'm not sure I like what this implies about me and my dad having long arms and my supposed granddad being of more standard limb length 🤔

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think if you're the son of a gibbon, it doesn't much matter whether you're a bastard or not.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 5 points 4 months ago

Gibbon was actually a pet name form of "Gilbert".

[–] rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That's cool, thanks for the addition. I'm not much of a history guy.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 2 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't mind being Beth Gibbons' bastard son.

[–] oo1@lemmings.world 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Tell your mum I'm enjoying the new album.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] Kyatto@leminal.space 26 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I love my last name, it translates roughly to "those people over there past the tree"

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Would have made moving quite an issue for your ancestors, though 😄

[–] Kyatto@leminal.space 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

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.

[–] Nino477@lemmy.world 16 points 4 months ago (2 children)

My surname translates to the suffering one :(

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

My full name translates to "strict and serious son of a farmer", which describes my dad quite well and me not at all 🤦😂

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 7 points 4 months ago

In a different hemisphere than my ancestors, my surname translates to "Go Fuck Yourself".

Found that out while working in a restaurant staffed by speakers of that language. Thought they were fucking with me but I googled it.

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

'Gaylord'

Town Jester? Threw the best parties?

[–] dudinax@programming.dev 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Isn't Gaylord a first name?

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I have read random weird news articles about modern people who have it as a last name, I swear.

[–] StarPupil@ttrpg.network 2 points 4 months ago

Mitch Gaylord was an Olympic Gymnast and bad actor, he invented two techniques, namely the Gaylord Flip and the Gaylord Two.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

They tailored garments for apes.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 4 months ago

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".

[–] adam_y@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Related to another popular post right now...so what was Bruce Dickinson's ancestor?

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 10 points 4 months ago

I mean, let’s hope it was containers.

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

My surname means doctor, yeah don't be fooled

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Well we have a bunch of surnames after animals where I live. In fact my own one translates to blackbird.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Do you ever get the urge to just start singing in the dead of night?

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

Not really but my gf keeps asking me why I am sending blackbirds to spy on her.

[–] xia@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 months ago

"I have a very particular set of skills..."

[–] Jumpingspiderman@sopuli.xyz 2 points 4 months ago

Ha! My surname means "was once a pauper" in a language that has since morphed into another language in which my surname doesn't mean anything anymore