Gerwald

This name derives from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) “Gervald,” composed of two Germanic elements: “*gaizaz” (spear, pike, javelin) and “*waldaʐ” (ruler, might, mighty one, power, powerful one). Géraud d’Aurillac (or Saint Gerald) is a French saint of the Roman Catholic Church, also recognized by other religious denominations of Christianity. Finally, it should be noted that, although phonetically similar, the name “Gerard” is not a variant of “Gerald,” even though the two names are often confused with one another. Gerald of Mayo († 731) is a saint of the Catholic Church. Born in Northumbria, the son of an Anglo-Saxon king, he was one of the English monks at Lindisfarne who accompanied Colmán of Lindisfarne to Iona and then to Ireland.