The story
- Frankish · derived from*gaiʀ“spear”
- English todayGerald
From Old French, ultimately from Frankish *gaiʀ (“spear”) + *wald (“might, power”). The name was brought to England by the Normans. It survived in Ireland, and was revived in the 19th century.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.