Players with nationalities you didnt expect based on their name

Reindl87

Registered User
May 18, 2012
649
299
Robert Lang never stood out as a czech name. Especially since there's a ton of lang that are french canadian
Again pretty standard Czech name, though. Many people in the Czech Republique still have German surnames for historic reasons. Including many hockey payers. Lang, Reichel, Kraft, Hertel. . . Others have originally German names that got "chechnozised" at some time in their family history . Jagr beging the most prominent one. (originally "Jäger" = hunter).
 
Last edited:

karhukissa

Registered User
Apr 2, 2019
1,819
2,447
Teddy Blueger is Latvian. But his real name is apparently Teodors Blugers so that would've been easier to guess.
 

Zenos

Registered User
Oct 4, 2009
2,171
2,380
Many people in the Czech Republique still have German surnames for historic reasons. Including many hockey payers. Lang, Reichel, Kraft, Hertel. . . Others have originally German names that got "chechnozised" at some time in their family history . Jagr beging the most prominent one. (originally "Jäger" = hunter).

I suppose Neuvirth is another one (would be Neuwirth in German). I'll admit that I didn't know he was Czech early in his career, mostly because of how TV commentators pronounced his first name. It was only until I saw the name in print, that I realized he was probably Czech.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reindl87

Your old Jofa helmet

Registered User
Oct 2, 2006
1,701
205
Toronto
Well Mike Bossy IS French Canadian.

Nope, he's not. He was just born in Montreal. His mother is English and his father is Ukrainian. His last name is transformed to Bossy and originally it was Босий meaning Barefoot in Ukrainian. I didn't know myself but it's a pretty known fact and Bossy himself admitted his Ukrainian heritage.
 

Armourboy

Hey! You suck!
Jan 20, 2014
19,005
10,372
Shelbyville, TN
Mathieu Olivier was born in Biloxi, Mississippi but thanks to Willey and Mase we are reminded of it on a nightly basis so we don't forget. :help:
 

Cotton

Registered User
May 13, 2013
9,120
5,611
Nope, he's not. He was just born in Montreal. His mother is English and his father is Ukrainian. His last name is transformed to Bossy and originally it was Босий meaning Barefoot in Ukrainian. I didn't know myself but it's a pretty known fact and Bossy himself admitted his Ukrainian heritage.

So he has half Ukrainian heritage.

Kind of on topic, one of the thing I enjoy is watching people who put a lot of pride into what they think they are get shocked when they get DNA results and, more often than not, find out it’s much different than what they were expecting.
 

Cotton

Registered User
May 13, 2013
9,120
5,611
When I got into the NHL in 92/93, I genuinely thought he was swedish (I'm swedish), learned pretty quickly that he wasn't. I think his grandparents are though.

His great-grandparents, on his fathers side, immigrated to Canada from Bredaryd. Their son Carl married Bonnie Roszal, Eric’s parents. Eric married Kina Larmarche, so Eric’s kids - in spite of the Swedish name - are about 12.5% Swedish (assuming his great grandparents were 100% Swedish, and assuming the DNA spread was even). That’s how flawed our assumptions can be in reading into a name.

A couple more generations of the same and there will only be trace amounts of Swedish DNA behind this family’s Swedish name - imagine this but from immigrants coming over hundreds of years before Eric’s great grandparents... that’s basically the story of many North Americans. I myself have a French last name that actually originated in Canada, my genetic makeup only has trace amounts of French DNA.

It’s an interesting topic to be sure.
 

notDatsyuk

Registered User
Jul 20, 2018
9,648
7,521
My sister-in-law's father and his two brothers were all born in the same room in the same house in the same Balkan village, but in three different countries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iapyi

Your old Jofa helmet

Registered User
Oct 2, 2006
1,701
205
Toronto
So he has half Ukrainian heritage.

Kind of on topic, one of the thing I enjoy is watching people who put a lot of pride into what they think they are get shocked when they get DNA results and, more often than not, find out it’s much different than what they were expecting.

btw, for Eastern Europe that DNA sample service is just a waste of time and money. My mom did it recently and the result is... your DNA is from Eastern Europe and Russia. No shit Sherlock, we already knew. It does not even differentiate between ethnicities, you can be Polish, Romanian or Hungarian (and these are 3 completely separate ethnicities) and it defines you as Eastern Europe and Russia
 

karhukissa

Registered User
Apr 2, 2019
1,819
2,447
I thought for a long time that Björkstrand is a swede. Also when growing up, i thought Sean Bergenheim is canadian or american.
 

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
12,274
7,723
Ostsee
Teddy Blueger is Latvian. But his real name is apparently Teodors Blugers so that would've been easier to guess.

It's a slightly controversial matter, in Latvia names are invariably written according to Latvian grammatical rules even if the names themselves are not Latvian. For example the Great One is Veins Greckis which is of no consequence as he is not a citizen, but for Latvian citizens with German or Russian names this can be an issue at times.
 

Cotton

Registered User
May 13, 2013
9,120
5,611
btw, for Eastern Europe that DNA sample service is just a waste of time and money. My mom did it recently and the result is... your DNA is from Eastern Europe and Russia. No shit Sherlock, we already knew. It does not even differentiate between ethnicities, you can be Polish, Romanian or Hungarian (and these are 3 completely separate ethnicities) and it defines you as Eastern Europe and Russia

It does that when your DNA is hard to peg down, which from what I understand is because it shows characteristics of belonging to several different ethnic groups.

This is the actual explanation given off of one of the more popular sites: “Much of Europe was buried under miles of ice ten thousand years ago. As the glaciers receded over millennia, Neolithic farmers from western Asia joined Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to settle Europe. Some European DNA is difficult to assign confidently to one population and receives a “Broadly” designation.”

They also state the Germanic migration of the 4th and 6th centuries had a significant impact on Europe’s DNA.
 

ilezia

Registered User
Apr 13, 2010
237
72
Not sure if it was posted already but a history lesson for anyone still wondering about Finnish players with Swedish names:

Swedish is the 2nd official language of Finland. Finland used to be under Swedish rule (as well as Russian) for centuries. For the longest time the official language was Swedish and all official positions and to some extent even trades required you to speak Swedish. Many Finns changed their names to Swedish names as a 'too Finnish name' was a detriment to your career. There was a reversal of this movement in the early 20th century when National Romanticism swept across Finland, ultimately leading to Finland gaining independence (although at this stage from Russia and not from Sweden). During this time it was promoted to change foreign names to Finnish names (Finnicization). My family name was also changed from a Swedish name to a Finnish name. However, Swedish culture remains prevalent in Finland and Swedish language is still the the 2nd official language.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iapyi and Realgud

Peiskos

Registered User
Jan 4, 2018
3,665
3,614
Johnny Oduya - nothing about that sounds Swedish to me as a Canadian.
Also, I thought Roberto Luongo and Milan Lucic were Italian for the longest time.

I mean..Luongo is Italian, he speaks it fluently and his father is an Italian immigrant to Canada.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->