Around the World :: Iceland

I was watching the credits for the film 'Noah' the other day. Only a name nerd would skip the actual film and go straight to pages and pages of lovely names! About halfway through, there was a set of names titled 'Icelandic Crew' that contained so many new names to me. Thoranna and Finnur are my favourites.

Male 'Icelandic Crew' Names

                                              Female 'Icelandic Crew' Names

Top Baby Names in Iceland 2015

Girls

1. Guðrún

2. Anna

3. Kristín

4. Sigdríður

5. Margrét/Margrjet/Margret

6. Helga

7. Sigrún

8. Ingibjörg

9. María

10. Jóhanna

11. Elín

12. Katrín

13. Hildur

14. Ragnheiður

15. Lilja

Boys

1. Jón

2. Sigurður

3. Guðmundur

4. Gunnar

5. Ólafur/Olav

6. Einar

7. Kristján/Kristian/Christian

8. Magnús

9. Stefán/Stefan

10. Jóhann

11. Björn

12. Arnar

13. Árni

14. Bjarni

15. Helgi

Baby Naming Rules in Iceland

Forenames

A forename must follow the linguistic structure and orthography of the Icelandic language. It must also be obviously male or female. There is a list of approved names and any others must be approved by the court.

Family Names

You are allowed one family name and this also has to be established in the Icelandic language.

Surnames

Surnames are either patronymic or metronymic. You can use the name of your father or mother with the suffix –son (for a boy) or –dóttir (for a girl). People in Iceland do not take their spouse’s name when they get married.

My favourite bit of the Icelandic rules says ‘A name may not be such as to cause its bearer embarrassment.’ Good advice indeed.