A son is a male offspring; a

boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

or a

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups ...

. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a

first degree relative A first-degree relative (FDR) is a person's parent (father or mother), full sibling (brother or sister) or child. It constitutes a category of family members that largely overlaps with the term nuclear family, but without spouses. If the persons ...

Social issues

In pre-industrial societies and some current countries with agriculture-based economies, a higher value was, and still is, assigned to sons rather than daughters, giving males higher social status, because males were physically stronger, and could perform farming tasks more effectively. In China, a

one-child policy The term one-child policy () refers to a population planning initiative in China implemented between 1980 and 2015 to curb the country's population growth by restricting many families to a single child. That initiative was part of a much bro ...

was in effect until 2015 in order to address rapid population growth. Official birth records showed a rise in the level of male births since the policy was brought into

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

. This was attributed to a number of factors, including the illegal practice of sex-selective abortion and widespread under-reporting of female births. In

patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

societies, sons will customarily inherit an estate before daughters. In some cultures, the eldest son has special privileges. For example, in Biblical times, the first-born male was bequeathed the most goods from his father. Some Japanese social norms involving the eldest son are: "that parents are more likely to live with their eldest child if their eldest child is a son" and "that parents are most likely to live with their eldest son even if he is not the eldest child".

Christian symbolism

Among

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

, "the Son" or Son of God refers to Jesus Christ. Trinitarian Christians view Jesus as the human incarnation of

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

the second person of the Trinity, known as God the Son. In the Gospels, Jesus sometimes refers to himself as the Son of Man.

Indications in names

In many cultures, the surname of the family means "son of", indicating a possible ancestry—i.e., that the whole family descends from a common ancestor. It may vary between the beginning or the termination of the surname. ;

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

* ''bin'' or ''ibn''. Examples: "Ibn Sina" ("son of Sina"), "Ibn Khaldun" ("son of Khaldun"). ; Berber * ''U'' (also spelled ''ou''). Examples: "Usadden" ("son of Sadden"), "Uâli" ("son of Âli"). * ''Ayt'' (also spelled ''ait'' or ''aït''). Examples: "Ayt Buyafar" ("sons of Buyafar"), "Ayt Mellul" ("sons of Mellul"). * ''n Ayt'' (also spelled ''nait'' or ''naït''). Examples: "n Ayt Ndir" ("son of the Ndir tribe/family"), "Naït Zerrad" ("son of the Zerrad tribe or family"). ;

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

* ''Sen''. Examples: "Henriksen" ("son of Henrik"), "Jensen" ("son of Jens"), "Andersen" ("son of Anders"). ; Dutch * ''Sen''. Examples: "Jansen" ("son of Jan"), "Petersen" ("son of Peter"), "Pietersen" ("son of Pieter") * ''Zoon''. Examples: "Janszoon" ("son of Jan"), "Peterszoon" ("son of Peter"), "Pieterszoon" ("son of Pieter") ;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

* ''s''. Examples: "Edwards" ("son of Edward"), "Williams" ("son of William"), "Jeffreys" ("son of Jeffrey") * ''Son''. Examples: "Jefferson" ("son of Jeffery"), "Wilson" ("son of William"), "Edson" ("son of Edward"), "Anderson" ("son of Ander"). ;

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

* ''es''. Example: "Fernandes" ("son of Fernand"). * ''ot''. Example: "Pierrot" ("son of Pierre"). * ''de'' or ''d'.'' Example: "Danton" ("son of Anton"). ;

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

* ''ben'' or ''bin'' before 1300 BC. Example: "Benjamin" ("son of a

right-hand man A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

"). Also, the Hebrew word for "person" is ''ben Adam'', meaning "son of

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as ...

". ; Hindi * ''beta''. Example: "Mera beta Tim" ("my son Tim"). * ''बेटा''. Example "मेरा बेटा टिम" ("my son Tim"). ; Hungarian * ''-fi'' or ''-ffy''. Examples: "Petőfi" ("son of Pető"), "Sándorfi" ("son of Sándor"), "Péterffy" ("son of Péter") (archaic spelling, indicates aristocratic origins). ;

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

* ''Mac'' or ''Mc''. Examples: "MacThomas" ("son of Thomas"), "McDonald" ("son of Donald"), "MacLean" ("son of Lean"). ;

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

* ''di''. Examples: "di Stefano" ("son of Steven"), "di Giovanni" ("son of John"), "di Giuseppe" ("son of Joseph"). * ''de''. Examples: "de Paolo" ("son of Paul"), "de Mauro" ("son of Maurus"), "de Giorgio" ("son of George"). * ''d`''. Examples: "d'Antonio" ("son of Anthony"), "d'Adriano" ("son of Adrian"), "d'Agostino" ("son of Augustine"). * ''-i'', which comes from Latin ending for Genitive. Examples: "Paoli" ("son of Paolo"), "Richetti" ("son of Richetto, a short name for Enrico"). ; Norwegian * ''Son''. Examples: "Magnusson" ("son of Magnus"); "Sigurdson" ("son of Sigurd"), "Odinson" ("son of Odin"). ;

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

* ''pur/pour''. Example: "Mahdipur" ("son of Mahdi"). * ''zadeh''. Example: "Muhammadzadeh" ("son/daughter of Muhammad"). ;

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...

*''Anak'' Example: ''mga Anak ni Pedro'' (son and daughter of Pedro) ; Tamil * ''Magan''. Example: "En Magan Murugan" ("my son Murugan"). * ''மகன்''. Example "என் மகன் முருகன்" ("my son Murugan"). ; Polish * ''ski''. Examples: "Janowski" ("son of John"), "Piotrowski" ("son of Peter"), "Michalski" ("son of Michael"). ;

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

* ''Es''. Examples: "Gonçalves" ("son of Gonçalo"), "Henriques" ("son of Henrique"), "Fernandes" ("son of Fernando"). ;

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

* ''a'' as prefix (except for female names that start in a and probably for others that start in vowels) and ''ei'' as suffix. Example: "Amariei" ("son of Mary"), "Adomnitei" ("son of Domnita"), "Alenei" ("son of Elena/Leana"). * ''escu'' or sometimes ''aşcu'' comes from the Latin ''-iscus'' which means "belonging to the people". Examples: "Petrescu" ("Petre's son"), "Popescu" ("Popa's son" Popa meaning Priest), "Constantinescu" ("son of Constantin").. ;

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...

* ''ov'' , ''ovich'' . Example: "Ivanov" ("son of Ivan"). * ''ev'' , ''evich'' . Example: "Dmitriev" ("son of Dmitri"). ;

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

* ''Ez''. Examples: "González" ("son of Gonzalo"), "Henríquez" ("son of Henrique"), "Fernández" ("son of Fernando"), Gómez ("son of Gome"), Sánchez ("son of Sancho"). ; Turkish * ''oğlu''. Examples: "Elbeyioğlu" ("son of foreigner

Bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

"), "Ağaoğlu" ("son of

Ağa Ağa is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Mustapha Aga, Ottoman Empire ambassador to the Swedish Court * Osman Aga of Temesvar, Ottoman army officer *Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, Ottoman architect of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque * ...

"), "Yusufoğlu" ("son of Yusuf"). * ''zade''. Examples: " Beyzade" (son of a

), "

Aşıkpaşazade Dervish Ahmed ( tr, Derviş Ahmed; "Ahmed the Dervish; 1400–1484), better known by his pen name Âşıki or family name Aşıkpaşazade, was an Ottoman historian, a prominent representative of the early Ottoman historiography. He was a descen ...

" ("son of

Ashik An ashik ( az, aşıq, ; tr, âşık; fa, عاشیق) or ashugh ( hy, աշուղ; ka, აშუღი) is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as '' hikay ...

Paşa), "Mehmedzade" (son of

Mehmet Mehmed (modern Turkish: Mehmet) is the most common Bosnian and Turkish form of the Arabic name Muhammad ( ar, محمد) (''Muhammed'' and ''Muhammet'' are also used, though considerably less) and gains its significance from being the name of Muh ...

). ;

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

* ''-enko'' or ''-ko'', meaning simply "son of". Example: " Kovalenko" ("son of Koval") * ''sky'' . Examples: "Stanislavsky" ("son of Stanislav"), "Chaykovsky" ("son of Chayko"), "Petrovsky" ("son of Petro"). * ''shyn''. Examples: "Petryshyn" ("son of Petro"), "Danylyshyn" ("son of Danylo"). * ''chuk''. Example: "Ivanchuk" ("son of Ivan"). ; Welsh * ''ap'' or ''ab''. Examples: "ap Rhys" ("son of Rhys",

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

to " Price"), "ab Owain" ("son of Owen", anglicized to Bowen).

Semitic

The

word for son is ''ibn.'' Because family and

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

are important cultural

values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...

in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...

and Islam,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...

s and most Muslims (e.g. Bruneian) often use ''bin,'' which is a form of ''ibn,'' in their full names. The ''bin'' here means "son of." For example, the Arab name "Saleh bin Tarif bin Khaled Al-Fulani" translates as "Saleh, son of Tarif, son of Khaled; of the family Al-Fulani" (cf. Arab family naming conventions). Accordingly, the opposite of ''ibn''/''bin'' is ''abu,'' meaning "the father of." It is a retronym, given upon the birth of one's first-born son, and is used as a moniker to indicate the newly acquired fatherhood status, rather than a family name. For example, if Mahmoud's first-born son is named Abdullah, from that point on Mahmoud can be called "Abu Abdullah." This is cognate with the Hebrew language ''ben,'' as in "Judah ben Abram HaLevi," which means "Judah, son of Abram, the Levite." Ben is also a standalone name.

References

External links

* {{Family Family Men