Some question about the Klingons...

[Shumsky]

So I always wondered...
If Martok is the head of the house of Martok, Duras of the house Duras, Gowron of the house of Gowron, how come worf is the head of the house of Mogh?
Why isn't it called the house of Worf?

It's obvious that the name of the house changes with the head, or...?

 

[Paradise City]

You get the option of honouring the father or assuming the mantle yourself. So there you go. Off-screen they just didn't think it through.

 

[Shumsky]

So much time dedicated to the Klingons, even developing the language and they didn't think it through...

 

[Kor]

This stuff has been better thought through in TrekLit.

For some additional background, scroll down on the Memory Alpha page: http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Great_House

Also, Duras' great-grandfather or somebody was also named Duras (as appeared in ENT). So the house may have been named after the original Duras, not the one who lived in the TNG era, who himself was presumably named after the original Duras.

Kor

 

[Paul Weaver]

So I always wondered...
If Martok is the head of the house of Martok

Martok was born a commoner. He made his own house.

Duras of the house Duras

And Toral became head later. And earlier no doubt, and back in the 22nd century Duras son of Toral was involved in some fashion. Names get reused down the generations.

Gowron of the house of Gowron

how come worf is the head of the house of Mogh?
Why isn't it called the house of Worf?

Same reason that Toral was in charge of the house of Duras. Worf (TNG) son of Mogh (Kithomer) son of Worf (ST-VI), perhaps himself son of Mogh.

It's obvious that the name of the house changes with the head, or...?

It's not obvious, names are reused in the Klingon empire, not just the Klingons either, Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdul Karim El Mahdi was named after his great-grandfather. Abdullah II of Jordan (Ensign Abdullah?) was named after his great-grandfather, Abdullah I of Jordan, and Ab-II's son is Hussein son of Abdullah son of Hussein son of Talal son of Abdullah son of Hussein bin Ali.

 

[Tosk]

When was "The House of Gowron" mentioned?

 

[Shumsky]

I just remembered the DS9 episode where Quark helps, that Klingon, Grilka became the head of her dead husband house, and the house was renamed the house of Grilka...
There you go.

Don't know about the house of Gowron, i made that up!

 

[Shumsky]

"Ronald D. Moore stated, "We've never explored the hows and whys regarding the naming of Klingon Houses. The House of Mogh reference was probably something that Worf carried on out of respect for his deceased father"

Ok, they didn't thought it through

 

[Paradise City]

Gowron's house's name is probably mentioned in the episode were Picard arbitrates between him and Duras.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Gowron's house's name is probably mentioned in the episode were Picard arbitrates between him and Duras.

No, a quick search shows that it never was. It was, however, mentioned in a couple of novels as the House of Gowron.

But that makes sense, because Gowron was a decorated noble Klingon military leader, able to put himself forward as a candidate for the Chancellorship. Of course he heads his own house.

In my mind, there's some grand elevation ceremony, perhaps a number of years later, where a House is renamed after its new head. Worf was a child in Federation territory (and then in Starfleet), so the House of Mogh went into some sort of stasis period. Kurn was raised in another house (Lorgh) and probably couldn't ascend anyway, because of Worf's status.

 

[dswynne1]

Too bad Westerners don't have something like this. Can you imagine a "House of Bob" or something, as an official title?

 

[Tim Thomason]

Too bad Westerners don't have something like this. Can you imagine a "House of Bob" or something, as an official title?

Well, my last name is Thomason, so it doesn't seem that crazy of an idea to me.

 

[Tosk]

Too bad Westerners don't have something like this. Can you imagine a "House of Bob" or something, as an official title?

Well, my last name is Thomason, so it doesn't seem that crazy of an idea to me.

It'd be cool if we did that whole "Son of" thing too. You could name your son Terry or something. Terry Timson.

 

[FormerLurker]

They do that in much of Scandinavia even today. Jourgen Tarlson is Tarl Svenson's son, Tarl Svenson is Sven Einarson's son, et cetera.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You get the option of honouring the father or assuming the mantle yourself.

Exactly. Worf would have been entitled to change his house name to the 'House of Worf', but he just chose not to. Mostly out of respect for his father (whom Worf knows full well has been treated like shit by the Empire) but also because Worf is not going to put his own ego first. He's more likely to place himself as part of a greater whole - i.e. Martok's house.

 

[Albertese]

Too bad Westerners don't have something like this. Can you imagine a "House of Bob" or something, as an official title?

Well, my last name is Thomason, so it doesn't seem that crazy of an idea to me.

It'd be cool if we did that whole "Son of" thing too. You could name your son Terry or something. Terry Timson.

Scottish and Irish names often follow a similar convention. "Mac" (or Mc) in Scotch names is from the Gaelic for "son of" and I understand the "O'" in, for example, O'Brien, is from "of" as in "of Brien's line" or similar. McDonald would be "son of Donald." Many weirder Scottish names are Anglicized forms of old Gaelic phrases, for instance, my own last name is from the Gaelic for "Son of Horse Lord."

--Alex McKechnie

 

[scotpens]

The Russians follow a somewhat similar custom of using patronyms as middle names, e.g. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (father's name Aleksey) or Darya Igorevna Klishina (father's name Igor).

 

[FormerLurker]

Or Pavel Andreivitch Chekov(father's name Andrei).

 

[Tracy Trek]

They do that in much of Scandinavia even today. Jourgen Tarlson is Tarl Svenson's son, Tarl Svenson is Sven Einarson's son, et cetera.

And was there a different suffix if you were a woman? I remember a story I read once where the Scandinavian word for daughter was dottir I believe. Could a name be like say Greta Svensdottir be used? Or would it come from her mother's name?

There is some of DS9, I haven't seen. Wasn't Worf adopted into the house of Martok?

Why did Alexander go by the last name of Worf's adopted parents when Worf himself didn't? They did call him Alexander Rozchenko on the show, right? Or is this just something from Trek Lit. or fanfic?

 

[Nerys Myk]

They do that in much of Scandinavia even today. Jourgen Tarlson is Tarl Svenson's son, Tarl Svenson is Sven Einarson's son, et cetera.

And was there a different suffix if you were a woman? I remember a story I read once where the Scandinavian word for daughter was dottir I believe. Could a name be like say Greta Svensdottir be used? Or would it come from her mother's name?

There is some of DS9, I haven't seen. Wasn't Worf adopted into the house of Martok?

Why did Alexander go by the last name of Worf's adopted parents when Worf himself didn't? They did call him Alexander Rozchenko on the show, right? Or is this just something from Trek Lit. or fanfic?

The Icelandic singer Bjork's full name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir, her father is Guðmundur Gunnarsson.