6.5.16

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.