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.