Thanks to modern genealogy tools and DNA tests, more people than ever are digging into their family trees — and some are secretly (or not so secretly) hoping to uncover a famous ancestor. Imagine being able to drop the fact that you’re distantly related to royalty during a work meeting or at a party.
According to experts from Ancestry.com, that royal connection might be closer than you think — especially if you know what to look for. History suggests that many former monarchs fathered children outside of marriage, and some of those children left a trace in the form of distinctive surnames.
One of the most telling? Fitzroy. In Anglo-Norman, fitz means “son” and roy means “king” — quite literally, “son of the king.” A similar structure applies to other names: for example, Fitzgerald means “son of Gerald,” Fitzpatrick means “son of Patrick.”
Historically, a few famous Fitzroys really did descend from kings.
- Henry Fitzroy (1519–1536) was the only illegitimate son King Henry VIII officially acknowledged, serving as Duke of Richmond and Somerset.
- Henry Charles Fitzroy, one of King Charles II’s illegitimate sons, became the first Duke of Grafton in 1675.
