A complicated, old and storied name

Although the Garrett surname came to Britain with the Normans, it derives from the Germanic personal names Gerard, or Gerald, composed of the elements “gar,” or “ger,” meaning “spear,” “hard,” meaning “brave,” or “strong,” and “wald,” meaning “rule.”

What makes this family history so complicated are three things.

1. There are SO many variations on Garrett. Garrard, Gerard, Garratt, Garrad, Garritt, Garrod, Garrood and Garrud and Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald derives from ‘son of Gerald,’ an old Irish naming convention.
2. They didn’t always put middle names or Jr or John III on records. So that makes it a challenge.
3. Like most families, they really loved to repeat the names like John, Benjamin, William, etc., and they did it across different lines.

“Let’s name our first son after my oldest brother, that’s a great idea”.