GERALD MARTIN

From an Old French name of Germanic (Frankish) origin, derived from gār, gēr ‘spear’ + wald ‘rule’. It was adopted by the Normans and introduced by them to Britain. There has been some confusion with Gerard. It died out in England at the end of the 13th century. However, it continued to be popular in Ireland, where it had been brought in the 12th century at the time of Strongbow's invasion. It was used in England in the 17th century and revived in the 19th century, along with several other long-extinct names of Norman, Old English, and Celtic origin, and is now more common than Gerard, which survived all along as an English ‘gentry’ name.

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms.