12/2/2023 0 Comments Medieval last names norway![]() The new gender autonomy act also influences the Icelandic surnames in the country.Īs noted in the explanation above, the status quo for giving Iceland last names, is to refer to a son with the -son prefix, and a daughter with -dóttir. Going forward, Unisex names may appear more often in Iceland, although there are still a lot of people who feel Iceland has a lot of growth to do from a naming perspective. The decision to change this law came as part of the Gender Autonomy Act in Iceland. This goes against the previous provisions of the naming laws in the country, which required girls and boys to have specifically gendered name. Fortunately, there are some changes beginning to happen to Icelandic surnames, and naming laws in general.įollowing the modernization of the world, and the growth of things like gender equality, and even the transgender community, Icelandic names are gradually becoming less gender focused.Īccording to the RUV, Icelandic citizens will now be able to take any name in the registry of names approved by the Icelandic naming committee. Common Icelandic last names are changingĪs you can see, Icelandic surnames are tricky things. Icelandic citizens also cannot take the last name of their foreign partners after marriage. Interestingly, if an Icelander has a child with a foreign person, the child can take the person’s last name, but Iceland will require the child to have an Icelandic title too. If you don’t register a name in this time, you will be fined. Today, you only have 6 months to choose the name for your child (including the Icelandic surname). Following the 1750s, a trend began to choose more than one first name for a child. ![]() Some people would occasionally get a nickname. Up until around 1750 in Iceland, everyone had a single name, and their last name. Instead, the typical naming trend mentioned above would come into play. If you were to have three daughters, for instance, and an Icelandic family name, none of your daughters will be able to pass the name to their children. However, families with these names can only pass them paternally. This means in these families the Icelandic surname is passed down from one family to the next. There are a handful of families in Iceland who do have “family names”. Some public figures also adjust their last name to make it more unique or memorable. There are also occasions where a child might take both of the parent’s names as a last name, to give them a double-barreled surname, such as: Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason. An example is Heiðar Helguson, an Icelandic football player who uses his mother’s name in his surname to create “Helguson”. The changes taking place in Iceland in recent years mean it’s now possible to use the matronym instead. However, you don’t have to use your father’s name in your last name if you don’t want to. The patronymic reference in Icelandic last names is the most common and traditional option. ![]() Though this strategy for naming has appeared throughout Scandinavian countries for generations, it’s only Iceland which has continued to use the same system for so long. There’s no reference to your historic lineage in your Icelandic surname. Notably, each last name is based on the mother or father of child. Iceland uses the suffix dóttir for a girl, and -son for a boy. If the couple also have a baby girl, then her last name would be Eglisdottir. If Selma and Gill had a baby boy, and named him Olaf, his last name would be “Egillson” because his father’s name was Egill. Those names would stay the same when the two get married. Say your parents were Selma Jondottir and Egill Ragnarson. The woman doesn’t take the last name of the man she marries in most cases. If a man and women get married in Iceland, their names stay the same. Icelanders typically use something called a patronymic or matronymic reference, instead of the typical last name. Although some families adopt names related to places and ancestral names, Iceland doesn’t use a last name the same way we do. In Iceland, there are technically no family names. Some people even say Iceland doesn’t have any traditional “surnames” at all. Icelandic last names: Are there Icelandic family names? Perhaps more than any other Scandinavian country, Iceland has a lot of unique rules regarding naming which can make it difficult to understand how anyone would trace their lineage there. However, it can be quite a peculiar destination too. Whether you fall in love with the amazing culture of Reykjavik, or you’re blown away by the Northern Lights, Iceland is a place you’ll want to keep visiting for years to come. Here at Scandification we think Iceland is an incredible place for a lot of reasons. Maybe you’ve even heard some people refer to Iceland as the country with “no last names”. Are you interested in learning about Icelandic surnames? Perhaps you’ve recently learned Iceland is beginning to change its approach to naming, so modern people can have a less-gendered last name.
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