3 ms·
Can someone explain patronymic names to me as someone from a different culture? So you name your son with your given name + son, right? But doesn't it mean he
by thrdbndndn 2y ago
Can someone explain patronymic names to me as someone from a different culture?
So you name your son with your given name + son, right?
But doesn't it mean he no longer shared the same surname with you? How does it make sense?
(Edit: I'm aware it was a practice long time ago, but still.)
- thristian 2y agoIcelandic names follow that pattern. Björk's full name is "Björk Guðmundsdóttir" because she is the daughter of Guðmundur Gunnarsson. English-speaking countries generally don't do that. For a long time people had only first-names, and disambiguated with nicknames or patronymic names where necessary. Eventually as society got larger and more complicated, governments started legally requiring people to have surnames, and they more or less stuck. If you meet a John Williamson today, his father probably isn't called William, but he's probably descended from a William who lived in the late medieval/early modern era.