Why is Loki’s Last Name Laufeyson?

Loki on Disney+ kicks off with our titular anti-hero landing himself straight in TVA jail. Almost as soon as the Loki (Tom Hiddleston) we meet in Avengers: Endgame goofs up the timeline by using the Tesseract to escape to what appears to be Ghenghis Khan’s Mongolia, the Time Variance Authority apprehends him for crimes against the sacred timeline. Loki is told that he is a variant of Loki Laufeyson and — wait a minute? Is that really Loki’s last name? Loki Laufeyson?!?

It seems that every time Loki called himself Loki of Asgard in the MCU movies, he wasn’t giving himself a proper introduction. Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku), Judge Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson), and the rest of the TVA all seem to think his full name is Loki Laufeyson. Not “Loki of Asgard” nor “Loki Odinson.” Not even just Loki, like he’s Beyoncé or something. Our beloved Loki should be referred to as Loki Laufeyson.

So what gives? Is Loki’s last name really Laufeyson? And why is calling the Tom Hiddleston Marvel character Loki Laufeyson actually a punch to the gut for the character? Here’s what we know about Loki’s last name in Disney+’s Loki…

Is Loki’s Real Name Really Loki Laufeyson?

Yes! The lord of mischief and chaos really has a snazzy alliterative name like Loki Laufeyson. Not only can we confirm that’s Loki’s real last name, but there’s a rather bittersweet reason for it. (Also, you’re going to keep hearing and seeing “Laufeyson” as Disney+’s Loki goes on…)

Why is Loki’s Last Name Laufeyson?

It all has to do with Norse naming practices and the fact that Odin (Anthony Hopkins) wasn’t Loki’s real father.

The Asgardians seem to follow a traditional Nordic naming practice, which is children take the first names of their fathers as their last names. Male children simply add “-son” to their father’s names, and daughters typically add “-datter.”

Two historic and literary examples for you: the famous Norse explorer Leif Erikson was the son of Erik the Red. And Sigrid Undset’s classic Nobel Prize-winning novel Kristin Lavransdatter is about a young woman growing up in 14th century Norway named Kristen. Her father’s name? Lavrans. Hence she is known as Kristin Lavransdatter.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is called Thor Odinson in the MCU films, so you would think his brother Loki would be Loki Odinson. In fact, Loki would probably prefer that himself.

However Loki is in fact the son of the Laufey (Colm Feore), the king of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Laufey rejected Loki on account of his small size and Odin took pity on the baby left to die after a battle between the two races.

So yes, Loki’s name would be…Loki Laufeyson.

It also is a twist of the knife for the TVA to call Loki by this name as it just hammers home the fact that he is neither an Asgardian nor Odin’s son. It removes him from his connections to his adoptive family…and maybe cuts him off from the redemptive arc in the films? Which was tied to learning to accept his place in the Asgardian royal family.

Loki of Asgard was filled with glorious purpose. Loki Laufeyson? Sounds like just another grunt at the TVA…

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