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Why is it called קדיש יתום if brothers say it? A more fitting name would be קדיש אבל since it’s said when people are in אבילות (I know, people outside of אבילות can say it if there’s no אבל, but technically it’s meant for the אבל)
While we’re at it, one of the מצוות mentioned thats קרן קיימת בעה״ב and פירותיהם בעה״ז is לווית המת why not ניחם אבלים how is that different than ביקור חולים?
Your question is about linguistics rather than halacha. Many things misnamed but we use the names anyways. In many countries the “Labor” party names suggests they are a party of blue collar workers, when in fact they are a party of left wing pseudo-intellectuals while working class voters support other parties. We refer to someone who hates Jews as an anti-Semite, even though there are many people speaking Semitic languages including the Arabs, and most people in Malta and Ethiopia (and someone accused of being an anti-Semite can not defended himself by claiming to like Arabs). That is how language is. One should note that since one says kaddish for almost a year, as opposed to a month for other relatives, the person likely to be saying kaddish in shul is usually saying it for a parent, which is probably how the term developed.
I think the core meaning of the word is something along the lines of deprived/left alone.
akuperma> the person likely to be saying kaddish in shul is usually saying it for a parent,
primary obligation is on the son if available, so most obligations will be on him.
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