>>>>>Shouldn't that be the well known couple Patrick FitzGerald and Gerald FitzPatrick ?
>>>>
>>>>I don't get it?
>>>>
>>>>I just did a web search on those names and didn't come across anyone famous in any way (except for maybe a lawyer and a football coach).
>>>
>>>Look more closely at the names. This is nothing about real people, just the construction of those names.
>>>
>>>Tamar
>>>
>>>P.S. Though not relevant to the joke, it's my understanding that the "Fitz" prefix originated to indicate the illegitimate son of the person named.
>>
>>You understand almost correctly. I used to think that, but I've since learned that it was a bit more complicated
>>
>>Norman surnames (e.g Beaumont) were derived from the location of the manor. So the name Roger De Beaumont meant that Roger was the lord of Beaumont Manor.)
>>People in those manors who were not nobles had no Norman surnames and were called Gerald, Patrick, etc.
>>
>>Giving the name Fitz (from the French fils) followed by the father's first name like Gerald, Patrick, Hugh, or John) was a way that a noble granted semi-noble status to a good warrior who had no land of family assets - ergo no Norman family name - but who had earned a surname.
>>
>>The other Irish prefixes e.g. O or Mc, had no similar Norman influence.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>, while other prefixes like O or Mc will be followed by a family name like Reilly, Grady, Cormack, etc..
>>So, somewhere way back then an Irishman named Gerald was a busy man.
>>It's even more complicated, since Gerald is the Anglo/French version of the Latin name Gerardini, a name that belonged to a Roman fellow who also seems to have gotten around a lot during the Roman occupation.
>
>Interesting subject. I hope I'm correct in saying that the 'Fitz' prefix is most common for Irish people (or those of Irish descent).

Yes, I assume that those Normans in Ireland adopted that tradition more than those in Britain.
My grandparents told me that the Fitzgerald's were usually Irish Catholics, while the FitzGerald's were more likely to be Protestants. In fact, it has turned out that way with the people I've met.