An Icelandic person can address his or her president in a public forum by his first name without causing public spectacle and attracting mass outcries of gross disrespect to their nation’s leader.
But how is this possible? Iceland has traditionally operated without surnames. Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have traditionally used a patronymic naming pattern whereby children’s last names are derived from their fathers’ first names. Under this centuries-old Scandinavian naming pattern, Icelanders consider it a joke to address someone by his or her surname. A person’s first name is his or her official name.
How Icelandic Names are Formed
Under the patronymic naming pattern, an Icelandic boy, Petur, whose father’s first name is Jon would be known as Petur the son of Jon (Petur Jonson). The same premise forms a girl’s name, except the suffix dottir (daughter of) is added to the father’s first name. Petur’s sister, Hildur, would be named Hildur Jondottir.
This Icelandic naming pattern makes it hard to use surnames and trace family relations. Anyone in Iceland whose fathers share the same first name will automatically have the same surname. This shows no family relations; it just shows a statistic of common first names.
So if you are traveling to Iceland for business or pleasure, don’t be surprised if your sincere attempt at being polite is met with a few giggles.
Icelandic Names Impact Marriage and the Phonebook
How people are named in Iceland has no impact on women who marry; women never change their last names. There is no suffix in Iceland that denotes wife of and so women remain the daughters of their fathers even when married. Therefore, every Icelandic mother has a different surname than her husband’s and children’s (her father’s). And the children have different surnames than their fathers’ (fathers’ first names + appropriate suffix). Also, siblings of differing sex have different last names as well (son and dottir).
Interestingly, the absence of usable surnames in Iceland has created an exceptional listing of names in the telephone directory. The phone book lists Icelanders alphabetically by their first names along with their occupations.
Icelanders Prefer the Patronymic Naming System
This is exactly how Icelanders prefer it. By early 20th century, other Scandinavian countries had switched to a surname system. In 1913, Icelandic laws permitted its citizens to adopt surnames.
Two years later, to curb an influx of Anglicized or non-Icelandic surnames, the government dutifully issued a list of approved Icelandic surnames from which Icelanders should choose.
By 1925 this law was scrapped, allowing those who already had surnames to keep them, but discontinuing any additional names. Today, Icelandic names are fundamentally patronymic.
Icelandic preference to a patronymic naming pattern has manifested in a law demanding that a prerequisite for citizenship includes adopting an existing Icelandic family name or a patronymic. The United Nations deemed this law too strict and revoked it in 1998.
But Iceland’s love affair with tradition is not limited to last names. Even first names in Iceland may have deep roots in the past. First names in Iceland have three patterns: commemoration, variation and alliteration.
Icelanders name their children with similar name beginnings. For example, in America you may have Betty-Ann and Betty-Sue. Well, Icelandic parents may name their children Thorvald and Thorgood under this pattern.
Under this pattern, Icelanders may name their children Fridrik and Fridrikka using an alliterative combination, similar to the American Jenny and Jenna.
Very rarely in Iceland are children named after their mothers. Children who take their mothers’ surnames do so because they wish.
Even rarer in Iceland is to name an Icelandic girl after her mother. Naming an Icelandic girl takes a process that involves government approval. After given approval, the chosen first name is disclosed for the first time at the child’s christening.
Icelanders are proud of their traditions and in a country where the sun sets at outrageous hours of the night, Icelanders are sure to set their own rules.
