the surname "fitzgerald" comes from the norman tradition of adding "fitz", meaning "son of" before the father's name. "fitz gerald" thus means in old norman and in old french "son of gerald". "gerald" itself is a germanic compound of "ger", "spear", and "waltan", " rule". variant spellings include "fitz-gerald" and the modern "fitzgerald". the name can also appear as two separate words "fitz gerald".