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.

Royal children born out of wedlock were rarely recognised, but when they were, their names sometimes reflected the link. Other surnames with possible ties to royal lines include Somerset, Richmond, Beaufort, and Lennox — all associated with descendants of monarchs born outside marriage.

More names linked to royal or aristocratic heritage

Even if your family name isn’t Fitzroy or one of its close relatives, you might still have a drop of blue blood. Genealogy site Family History Daily, drawing from Charles H. Browning’s 1891 book Americans of Royal Descent, compiled a list of surnames that appear in royal or noble family trees.

Here are some of them:

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.

So, if you spot your surname in this list, you might just have a royal connection somewhere in your family’s past. Of course, a shared name doesn’t guarantee a crown in your family vault — but it’s a great excuse to explore your roots. Who knows? You could uncover a noble tale or two to share at your next gathering.