Thread:Lukesmissinghand/@comment-22439-20170531010820/@comment-1327106-20170620042742

I'm just going to jump in here and point out that you're splitting hairs, Lukesmissinghand, especially because you're running to an online dictionary as if it is the final word.

If you work in translation, you know that the point isn't to do a word for word match. It's to get the meaning across.

Mikasa was taken in as a child by a family who gave her love and a permanent new home. Most people, in the real world, would call that exact scenario "adopted." She calls Eren family (家族, kazoku) when she thinks about losing him during the battle of Trost. I think that makes it pretty clear how highly she thinks of the Jaegers. You don't call someone who merely took you in as "family."

Also, not every adopted child, especially older ones, will take their new family's name. She may have kept Ackerman by choice. So what her name is, isn't really a factor.