Question about the bastard last name Pyke

[Vaedys Targaryen]

I'm not quite sure if this question belongs in the "General" forum, but I don't know where else to post the question, so here goes:

Bastards of noble families, whether one of their parents or both are of a noble house, get their own last name, depending on the region they live; if you are born in the Reach, you get the name Flowers, if you're born in the Stormlands, you get the name Storm, etc.

All the last names have some connection to the environment of the region that they live in; there are many flowers in the Reach, so noble bastards get the last name Flowers. Storms are constant in the Stormlands, so they get the name Storm. It snows a lot in the North, sometimes even in summer, so bastards get the name Snow.

All the names have a connection to a particular trait of their respective region.

All of them, except the Iron Islands, whose noble bastards recieve the last name Pyke, after the island called Pyke and the castle Pyke, on that same island, which is the official castle of house Greyjoy.

Why is that? Is there a reason why the Ironborn decided to give their bastards the last name Pyke after the island and castle, and not after a common trait of the Iron Islands like the rest of the Seven Kingdoms?

[Darry Man]

Good question. One would think the bastard name for the Ironborn would be "Iron". 

[Renly's Banana]

Probably just another way for GRRM to show that the Ironborn are a different people with their own stubborn, different customs.

The Iron Islands are nowhere near as big as the other regions, and most of their politics revolve around the island of Pyke. Lore-wise, if I had to guess, it started as their own unique trend and just stuck. The rulers of Pyke have always asserted their dominance with an iron fist.  

[Adam Yozza]

57 minutes ago, Renly's Banana said:

Probably just another way for GRRM to show that the Ironborn are a different people with their own stubborn, different customs.

The Iron Islands are nowhere near as big as the other regions, and most of their politics revolve around the island of Pyke. Lore-wise, if I had to guess, it started as their own unique trend and just stuck. The rulers of Pyke have always asserted their dominance with an iron fist.  

Except the Iron Islands have only been ruled by Pyke for 300 hundred years. Before that, the Hoare's ruled from Orkmont I believe and even earlier the Greyiron's ruled from the same place.

[Renly's Banana]

19 minutes ago, Adam Yozza said:

Except the Iron Islands have only been ruled by Pyke for 300 hundred years. Before that, the Hoare's ruled from Orkmont I believe and even earlier the Greyiron's ruled from the same place.

Then I'm willing to guess the Pyke surname only goes back to 300 years ago. Before that it may have been something else. 

[Good Guy Garlan]

3 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

All the names have a connection to a particular trait of their respective region.

Then the surname of the Ironborn bastards should be "Crap"

[Clegane'sPup]

3 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

Why is that? Is there a reason why the Ironborn decided to give their bastards the last name Pyke after the island and castle, and not after a common trait of the Iron Islands like the rest of the Seven Kingdoms?

I do not know.

There are fish named Pike that are aggressive. Maybe Martin is a fisherman and he decided to change the I to Y when writing his saga.

[Praetor Xyn]

48 minutes ago, Good Guy Garlan said:

Then the surname of the Ironborn bastards should be "Crap"

Or Hellhole.

[Clegane'sPup]

Maybe Crappie?

[1000th Lord Commander]

I noticed this too. I had wondered if it started out as a tradition of naming bastards after the island on which they were born, which then evolved into simply Pyke. But there's no mention of this in the World Book.

[ftheking]

"Salt" would fit best with the others, but be boring.

[White Ravens]

3 hours ago, Adam Yozza said:

Except the Iron Islands have only been ruled by Pyke for 300 hundred years. Before that, the Hoare's ruled from Orkmont I believe and even earlier the Greyiron's ruled from the same place.

 

2 hours ago, Renly's Banana said:

Then I'm willing to guess the Pyke surname only goes back to 300 years ago. Before that it may have been something else. 

So before Iron Born bastards were called Pykes they were called Orks?  I like it!

[Ser Loras The Gay]

2 hours ago, Good Guy Garlan said:

Then the surname of the Ironborn bastards should be "Crap"

Omg, apply salt water to the burn. 
And yes, that's very odd, and you made me think about this the very first time. Maybe they see their devotion to the greyjoys which such passion they name every bastard as if they were from the pyke castle?

 

[James West]

1 hour ago, ftheking said:

"Salt" would fit best with the others, but be boring.

Yes, salt is the most fitting. 

[Daena the Defiant]

7 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

I'm not quite sure if this question belongs in the "General" forum, but I don't know where else to post the question, so here goes:

Bastards of noble families, whether one of their parents or both are of a noble house, get their own last name, depending on the region they live; if you are born in the Reach, you get the name Flowers, if you're born in the Stormlands, you get the name Storm, etc.

All the last names have some connection to the environment of the region that they live in; there are many flowers in the Reach, so noble bastards get the last name Flowers. Storms are constant in the Stormlands, so they get the name Storm. It snows a lot in the North, sometimes even in summer, so bastards get the name Snow.

All the names have a connection to a particular trait of their respective region.

All of them, except the Iron Islands, whose noble bastards recieve the last name Pyke, after the island called Pyke and the castle Pyke, on that same island, which is the official castle of house Greyjoy.

Why is that? Is there a reason why the Ironborn decided to give their bastards the last name Pyke after the island and castle, and not after a common trait of the Iron Islands like the rest of the Seven Kingdoms?

'Pyke' is an alternative, archaic version of 'pike' which is a type of spear. That fits more with the "Vikingly" culture of the Iron Islands, and also probably why the castle is called that too, since it sits on cylinders of rock standing up above the surf, like thrust spears or something. 

[Vaedys Targaryen]

4 hours ago, ftheking said:

"Salt" would fit best with the others, but be boring.

I suppose it could work for their Salt Children (the children conceived through their Salt Wives), but what about the bastards of Ironborn nobles?

[The Hammer of Justice]

2 hours ago, Peter Peckerton said:

Yes, salt is the most fitting. 

I prefer "Sea"