Why using -son instead of -daughter?

Question

I am learning English and my teacher taught me a lesson where there was a person named Bill Robertson and his sister's name was Dyna Robertson. So why was her name Dyna Robertson when she is a daughter? Why not Dyna Robertdaughter?

You should have a look at the Wikipedia article on Patronymic naming. — KillingTime, Aug 21 '21 at 08:32
@KillingTime thank you for your answer. I am new to english and it is difficult for me to understand that article. But I will see it later after I became good. — jaun al khalib, Aug 21 '21 at 08:47
JackSON, AnderSON, ThomSON, PeterSON, ClarkSON, these are all very common last names in Anglophone speaking countries. I have never heard of anyone for example of being called JackDAUGHTER. Why is this so? Because we are still a patriarchal society, and it is the son who carries the name of the family onto the next generation. Traditionally the daughter loses her family name and adopts that of her spouse. — Mari-Lou A, Aug 21 '21 at 09:57
related: 1. keeping maiden name after marriage 2. Can “Mrs” be used before the name of a spouse who keeps her maiden surname? 3. What is the meaning and origin of the suffix “-son”? 4. Are all English surnames-made-first-names masculine? — Mari-Lou A, Aug 21 '21 at 10:23
and... 5. What do Americans call a 'double-barrelled surname'? — Mari-Lou A, Aug 21 '21 at 10:40
Surnames in England aren't patronymics. The son of John Robertson would be called Simon Robertson, not Simon Johnson. Wikipedia has a vast amount of information on virtually every country and culture's naming traditions: see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surname — Stuart F, Aug 21 '21 at 11:58
In case this need reiterating, last names ending in "son" are remnants of the distant past. Today a child of James Abbot, would not be called Jameson or Abbotson even though these last names do exist, a child usually inherits their father's last name unaltered. Some children inherit both parents' last names which is known as double-barrelled name — Mari-Lou A, Aug 22 '21 at 06:59

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 21 '21 at 14:47

In English, family names are usually passed down from a father to his children without any changes. So if a man is named Paul Johnson, then all of his children, regardless of gender, will also have the last name Johnson (not Paulson or Paulsdaughter). If one of those children is named David Johnson, then all of David's children will probably have the last name Johnson (not Davidson or Davidsdaughter).

At some time in history, centuries ago, the name "Paul Johnson" really would have meant "Paul, John's son." However, names no longer work that way in English-speaking countries.

Why using -son instead of -daughter?

1 Answers1