Icelandic name

A simple family tree showing the Icelandic patronymic naming system.

Icelandic names differ from most Western family name systems by being patronymic (and sometimes matronymic) in that they reflect the immediate father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage.

Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and the last's crown dependency the Faroe Islands. Icelanders, however, unlike other Scandinavians, have continued to use their traditional name system, which was formerly used in all of Scandinavia; it has also been re-introduced in the Faroe Islands. A well-known example is Leif Ericson, son of Erik the Red. The Icelandic system does not use family names. A person's surname indicates the first name of the person's father (patronymic) or in some cases mother (matronymic).

Some family names exist in Iceland, mostly inherited from parents of foreign origin, while some are adopted. Examples of notable Icelanders who have an inherited family name are former prime minister Geir Haarde, football star Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen, Icelandic actress Kristbjörg Kjelld and film director Baltasar Kormákur Samper. Before 1925, it was legal to adopt new family names; one Icelander to do so was the Nobel Prize-winning author Halldór Laxness. Since 1925, one cannot adopt a family name unless one explicitly has a legal right to do so through inheritance.^{[citation needed]}

First names that have not been previously used in Iceland must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee before being used.^[1] The criterion for acceptance of names is whether or not they can be easily incorporated into the Icelandic language. First, they must contain only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet and second, they must be able to be declined (that is, modified according to their grammatical case).

1 Typical Icelandic naming
2 Matronymic naming as a choice
3 Cultural ramifications – how to address people
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Typical Icelandic naming

For example, a man named Jón Stefánsson has a son named Fjalar. Fjalar's last name will not be Stefánsson like his father's; it will become Jónsson, literally indicating that Fjalar is the son of Jón (Jóns + son).

The same practice is used for daughters. Jón Stefánsson's daughter Katrín would not have the last name Stefánsson; she would have the name Jónsdóttir. Again, the name literally meaning "Jón's daughter" (Jóns + dóttir).

In some cases, an individual's surname is derived from a parent's middle name instead of the first name. For example, if Jón is the son of Hjálmar Arnar Vilhjálmsson he may either be named Jón Hjálmarsson (Jón, son of Hjálmar) or Jón Arnarsson (Jón, son of Arnar). The reason for this may be that the parent prefers to be called by the middle name instead of the first name; this is fairly common. It may also be that the parent's middle name seems to fit the child's first name better.

In cases where two people in the same social circle bear the same first name and the same father's name, they may be socially distinguished by their paternal grandfather's name. E.g. Jón Þórsson Bjarnarsonar (Jón, son of Þór, son of Bjarni) and Jón Þórsson Hallssonar (Jón, son of Þór, son of Hallur). This method is not common (as middle names are more commonly used), but such tracing of lineages can easily be seen in the Sagas.

Matronymic naming as a choice

The vast majority of Iceland last names carry the name of the father, but in some cases the mother's name is used. Sometimes either the child or legal parent wishes to end social ties with the father. Some women use it as a social statement whilst others simply choose it as a matter of style. Icelanders whose father's identity is uncertain also carry a matronymic name.

In all of these cases, the convention is entirely the same: Fjalar, the son of Bryndís, will have the full name of Fjalar Bryndísarson ("the son of Bryndís"). One well known Icelander with a matronymic name is football player Heiðar Helguson, Heiðar son of Helga. Another is Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir, Guðrún Eva daughter of Mínerva. One medieval example is the poet Eilífr Goðrúnarson.

Some people have both a matronymic and a patronymic, for example, Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson, the former mayor of Reykjavík.

Cultural ramifications – how to address people

In Iceland, directories of people's names, such as the telephone directory, are alphabetised by first name, not by surname. To reduce ambiguity, the telephone books go further by also listing professions. Iceland's small population makes the problem less significant than one might expect. In Russia, where although Icelandic-style name-patronyms are also used (such as Ivan Petrovich), the much larger population has made actual surnames obligatory in large cities.

Icelanders formally address others by their first names. For example, former prime minister Halldór Ásgrímsson would not be addressed as Mr. Ásgrímsson by another Icelander; he would either be addressed only by his first name or his full name. In Icelandic culture, an Icelander's surname is not part of one's name, but a short description of one's recent lineage; a man named Halldór Ásgrímsson is a son of Ásgrímur.

If there are two men named Jón in the same group, perhaps one named Jón Stefánsson and the other Jón Þorláksson, one could address Jón Stefánsson as "Jón Stefáns" and Jón Þorláksson as "Jón Þorláks". When someone holds a conversation with these two people at the same time, the appendage "son" would not need to be used; in that case, the father's name could be used like a nickname, although this is not a common occurrence.

The Icelandic singer and actress Björk does not use a stage name, such as those of fellow musicians Sting and Bono, but simply her first name (her full name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir), which is how any Icelander would address her, whether formally or casually. If an interviewer prefers to stick to the English-speaking way of addressing Björk, he or she will say "Miss Björk" or "Ms Björk".

As a result of each person using patronymics, a family will normally have a variety of last names: the parents could be named Jón Stefánsson and Bryndís Atladóttir, and their children might be Fjalar Jónsson and Katrín Jónsdóttir. With matronymics, the children in this example would be Fjalar Bryndísarson and Katrín Bryndísardóttir.

The Icelandic naming system occasionally causes problems for families travelling abroad, especially with young children, since non-Icelandic customs personnel (apart from those of other Nordic nations) are usually unfamiliar with the practice and therefore expect children to have the same last names as their parents.

References

^ Naming Committee accepts Asía, rejects Magnus, Iceland Review Online, accessed 2006-09-12

External links

Information on Icelandic Surnames (Ministry of Justice)

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Features	Alphabet · Phonology · Orthography · Grammar · N-rule · Vocabulary

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History and literature	History · Old Icelandic · Literature · Proverbs · Sagas · Poetic Edda · Skaldic poetry

Promotion and purism	Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies · Icelandic Language Day · Icelandic Language Council · Icelandic Language Fund · Icelandic Language Institute · Linguistic purism

Related topics	Icelandic Sign Language