• rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com
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    6 months ago

    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.worldOP
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      6 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
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      6 months ago

      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
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          6 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.

  • Kaity@leminal.space
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    6 months ago

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

      • Kaity@leminal.space
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        6 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.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.worldOP
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      6 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
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      6 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.

  • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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    6 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
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    6 months ago

    Related to another popular post right now…so what was Bruce Dickinson’s ancestor?

  • Jumpingspiderman@sopuli.xyz
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    6 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