Ancestry Websites Reveal Potential Royal Connections

With advancements in technology and the growing popularity of genealogy, more and more people are diving into their family histories—often hoping to uncover some fascinating or unexpected stories.

For many, the ultimate discovery is a famous ancestor—someone impressive enough to mention during icebreakers at work or to entertain friends at parties.

Luckily, experts at Ancestry.com suggest that uncovering a royal link might not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Due to the high number of illegitimate children attributed to past monarchs, there’s a real possibility that some people today are distantly related to royalty.

Apparently, however, there’s one particular surname that experts believe indicates a strong association with the institution of the past.

We are, of course, talking about Fitzroy – a name previously used to describe the child of a monarch, literally.

In Anglo-Norman, the ‘fitz’ aspect refers to a son. So, people with the surname ‘Fitzgerald’ would have come from a man named ‘Gerald’ somewhere down the line – such is also the case with ‘Fitzpatrick’.

The ‘roy’ aspect of the name also refers specifically to the ‘king’.

Some of the most famous Fitzroys in history include Henry Fitzroy, who served as the Duke of Richmond and Somerset between 1519 and 1536.

He was the only illegitimate son that King Henry VIII actually acknowledged, according to Ancestry.com.

Another example is Henry Charles Fitzroy – the third of five illegitimate children of King Charles II. His party-loving papa named him the First Duke of Grafton in 1675.

It’s worth emphasising, however, that ties between this particular name and the Royal Family are a bit more complicated than others.

This is because it’s somewhat rare for royals to recognise offspring born out of wedlock, but in these cases, they did.

Such is also said to be the case with a handful of other surnames, specifically Somerset, Richmond, Beaufort, or Lennox, which are said to indicate a connection to a line of royal bastards (children of the reigning monarch born out of wedlock).

Fear not if you don’t quite fall into any of these categories, however, as another ancestry site, Family History Daily, has compiled a list of 100 other surnames that could mean you’ve got blue blood in you – or at least, a sprinkle of aristocracy.

The list cited Charles H. Browning’s 1891 book titled Americans of Royal Descent, which includes hundreds of documents related to the Royal Family’s family tree.

Here’s the full run-down – brace yourself, you could be called to the throne any minute now!

Other surnames that could have royal blood
Abel
Alden
Appleton
Ayer
Barber
Barclay
Beverly
Binney
Brooke
Brown
Campbell
Carroll
Chauncey
Coleman
Cooper
Davis
Dickinson
Darling
Douglas
Dunbar
Edwards
Ellery
Ellis
Emmett
Evans
Farley
Fleming
Forest
French
Gardiner
George
Gerard
Gerry
Gibson
Graham
Hamilton
Haynes
Herbert
Hill
Howard
Hume
Irving
Jackson
James
Jenkins
Johnson
Kane
Kennedy
Ker
Key
King
Langdon
Lawrence
Lee
Leonard
Livingston
Lloyd
McCall
McDonald
Malcalester
Montgomery
Morris
Morton
Nelson
Nicholson
Nixon
Norris
O’Carroll
Ogle
Opie
Parsons
Patterson
Peabody
Pomeroy
Porter
Pratt
Preston
Quay
Randolph
Read
Reeve
Robinson
Rogers
Sanford
Shaw
Smith
Sowden
Stanley
Taylor
Townsend
Turner
Tyler
Valentine
Varson
Walker
Watts
White
Whiting
Williams
. Young