[Kirin Challenge Cup 2026] Why do almost all Iceland national team players have names ending in '-son'? The naming rules of the Nordic nation gathering at the Japan National Stadium

The Iceland national team has arrived at the Japan National Stadium today. Looking at the roster, one notices that many players' names end in '-son'. Is it a coincidence? No, this is rooted in a naming philosophy that has long existed in the Nordic region.

'Son' is not a surname, but a 'patronymic'

In Iceland, there is no such thing as a 'family surname' like the ones we take for granted. Instead, they use a system called patronymics. Men use their father's name plus 'son', while women use their father's name plus 'dóttir' (daughter).

In other words, even within the same family, the father, mother, son, and daughter all have 'different name endings'.
An older brother would be XX-son, while his younger sister would be XX-dóttir.
It is a world that is quite difficult to imagine from a Japanese perspective.

Reset every generation

What is even more interesting is that these names are not passed down across generations. In Japan, a surname like 'Yamada' continues to grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but in Iceland, names are recreated every generation based on the father's name.

With 'Sigurdson → Ragnarsson → XX-sson', the last name changes entirely with each generation. This means that in Iceland, the concept of a 'family name' does not exist, and 'who one is the child of' is reset every generation.

At the National Stadium tonight, the sight of '-son' names lining the roster is not just a naming habit, but a crystallization of a thousand-year-old culture that the Nordic island nation is proud of. I hope you will take a look at the names on the players' uniforms with that perspective in mind.