
Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the Scandinavian states of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Unlike those other nations, Icelanders have continued to use the old-style Scandinavian names, formerly used in Scandinavia but replaced by surnames in recent centuries. In the Icelandic system, there are no actual family names or surnames. A person's last name indicates the first name of the subject's father (or mother in some cases), that is, it is a patronymic (or matronymic). Family names exist in Iceland, and some while ago they existed as traditional surnames which are inherited through generations, but in today's Iceland they are technically middlenames, followed by the parent's first name. 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 Fjalar Jónsson, mentioning literally that Fjalar is the son of Jón. The same goes for females. Jón Stefánsson's daughter Kata would not have the last name Stefánsson; she would have the name Jónsdóttir. Again, the last name literally means "Jón's daughter". The vast majority of Iceland carries the name of the father, but in some cases the mother's name is used, for various reasons. Sometimes either the child or legal parent wishes to end social ties with the father, some feminists use it as a statement, and yet others simply find it a matter of style and nothing more. In that case, the convention is entirely the same. Fjalar, the son of Bryndís, will have the full name of Fjalar Bryndísarson (literally meaning "the son of Bryndís"). Foreigners often find it strange that Icelanders formally address others by their first name. For example, current prime minister Halldór Ásgrímsson would not be addressed as Ásgrímsson by another Icelander; he would either be addressed only by his first name (or first and second if he had one), or his full name. The cultural meaning of an Icelander's last name is not that it's a part of one's name, but a short description of who one is. Halldór ''is'' Ásgrímsson - a son of Ásgrímur. Legally it is a part of his name. Culturally it is a definition of from whom he was begotten, even if that definition is seemingly vague. One logical consequence of this is that in Iceland, directories of people's names, such as the phone directory, are alphabetized by ''given name'', not by surname. Another good example of the formal mode of address is the Icelandic singer and actress Björk. Björk is commonly mistaken for an artist's name or an artist's expression, such as "Sting_%28musician%29". However, Björk is simply Björk Guðmundsdóttir's first name, as any Icelander would address her, whether formally or casually. As a result, in a four-person family there might be four different last names: the married couple Jón (Stefánsson) and Bryndís (Atladóttir), and their children Fjalar (Jónsson) and Kata (Jónsdóttir). This also means that names of children do not necessarily reflect the marital status of their parents. Icelandic families have supposedly had difficulties with the customs services of foreign countries mistakingly believing their children may be being kidnapped because of the differing names. In more traditional countries or establishments it can also be fairly embarrassing for a person to check into a hotel with his or her spouse only to have to prove his or her marital status, though this has obviously become a less common requirement in recent decades. Culture of Iceland Names by culture Surnames Naming conventions
This is Wikipedia at its best: An interesting topic that I would never have thought of looking up, and which would't fit into standard encyclopedias, explained clearly and succinctly - even a Bjork reference at the end to hook it into popular culture without diluting it. Good stuff. == Family names == The article is right that at large there are no family names in Iceland, however some people (such as me) have one "Arnfjörð" is a family name in my family. So i have a "first name - family name - fathers name. It's rare, but there are exceptions to this "rule". Also, alot of people, especially in later times have middle names which are not family names such as "Ingi Freyr Jónsson". Also it could be mentioned that foo barson is akin to foo bin bar as used in some muslim countries. --User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/ User talk:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/ [ Bjarmason] User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/ 21:41, 2004 Sep 8 (UTC) == Family names trivia == Actually to be technically correct, you can only have a family name if you have the right to have one (i.e. if your parents have one, usually the father). If you have a family name you need not have a patronym, as the article implies (see http://www.althingi.is/lagasofn/nuna/1996045.html for the original legal text). About 10% of the population have family names and no new family names can be used. –User:128.2.47.26 :And how did the ancestors of this 10% come to adopt family names? Did they, for example, belong to a more privileged group perhaps (as was the case in Japan, where most commoners had no surnames)? Also, are titles like Mr/Dr attached to the first name (e.g. Dr. Ævar)? User:A-giau 12:09, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::Probably, according to [http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.asp?id=1405 this] they became popular in the 19th century due to danish influance this didn't sit very well with the goverment who attempted to ban them in 1881 (Icelanders at large suffer from an extreme case of xenophobia ) but didn't succeed, later in 1915 they became legal and finally it became illegal to take a ''new'' family name in 1991, however the old ones (pre-1991) are still allowed. — 01:16, 2005 Mar 16 (UTC)
::...and to answer your Dr. question they are technically, but are not generally used in common language as Icelanders shun away from using special titles by culture. — 01:18, 2005 Mar 16 (UTC)
This is perhaps more of a linguistic question: I notice most male last names have two s's (-sson), but Ævar's only has one "s" (Bjarmason). Is there a principled reason for that? I ask because in the :zh-min-nan:Peng-tē I used Björk as an example but then couldn't be sure if her (real or hypothetical) brother would be Guðmundursson or Guðmundurson. User:A-giau 12:21, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)
:The reason is that the last name consists of the genitive case (on zh: this is called 属格) + "son" for males or or "dóttir" for females, applying the genitive case to most (but not all) male names e.g. ''Jón'' or ''Gunnar'' will resault in a suffix ending with ''s'', due to the irregularities of infliction this is not always the case:
:Nominative case: (I've highlighted the Root (linguistics) of the word)
::Jón , Gunnar, Guðmundur, Ari, Ævar, Bjarmi
:Genitive case:
::Jóns , Gunnars, Guðmunds, Ara, Ævars, Bjarma
:Now, as I stated above a ''son'' suffix is always added for males, so the final outcome will be:
::Jóns + son = Jónsson
::Gunnars + son = Gunnarsson
::Guðmunds + son = Guðmundsson (Björks hypothetical brother)
::[...]
:Hope this helps. — 01:01, 2005 Mar 16 (UTC)
== Page move ==
I have renamed this article ''Icelandic name,'' to conform with other articles in the series. User:Davidcannon 14:02, 29 May 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Icelandic_name:
Icelandic_name
Icelandic_name
Icelandic_names
Icelandic name
Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the Scandinavian states of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Unlike those other nations, Icelanders have continued to use the old-style Scandinavian names, formerly used in Scandinavia but replaced by surnames in recent centuries. In the Icelandic system, there are no actual family names or surnames. A person's last name indicates the first name of the subject's father (or mother in some cases), that is, it is a patronymic (or matronymic). Family names exist in Iceland, and some while ago they existed as traditional surnames which are inherited through generations, but in today's Iceland they are technically middlenames, followed by the parent's first name. 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 Fjalar Jónsson, mentioning literally that Fjalar is the son of Jón. The same goes for females. Jón Stefánsson's daughter Kata would not have the last name Stefánsson; she would have the name Jónsdóttir. Again, the last name literally means "Jón's daughter". The vast majority of Iceland carries the name of the father, but in some cases the mother's name is used, for various reasons. Sometimes either the child or legal parent wishes to end social ties with the father, some feminists use it as a statement, and yet others simply find it a matter of style and nothing more. In that case, the convention is entirely the same. Fjalar, the son of Bryndís, will have the full name of Fjalar Bryndísarson (literally meaning "the son of Bryndís"). Foreigners often find it strange that Icelanders formally address others by their first name. For example, current prime minister Halldór Ásgrímsson would not be addressed as Ásgrímsson by another Icelander; he would either be addressed only by his first name (or first and second if he had one), or his full name. The cultural meaning of an Icelander's last name is not that it's a part of one's name, but a short description of who one is. Halldór ''is'' Ásgrímsson - a son of Ásgrímur. Legally it is a part of his name. Culturally it is a definition of from whom he was begotten, even if that definition is seemingly vague. One logical consequence of this is that in Iceland, directories of people's names, such as the phone directory, are alphabetized by ''given name'', not by surname. Another good example of the formal mode of address is the Icelandic singer and actress Björk. Björk is commonly mistaken for an artist's name or an artist's expression, such as "Sting_%28musician%29". However, Björk is simply Björk Guðmundsdóttir's first name, as any Icelander would address her, whether formally or casually. As a result, in a four-person family there might be four different last names: the married couple Jón (Stefánsson) and Bryndís (Atladóttir), and their children Fjalar (Jónsson) and Kata (Jónsdóttir). This also means that names of children do not necessarily reflect the marital status of their parents. Icelandic families have supposedly had difficulties with the customs services of foreign countries mistakingly believing their children may be being kidnapped because of the differing names. In more traditional countries or establishments it can also be fairly embarrassing for a person to check into a hotel with his or her spouse only to have to prove his or her marital status, though this has obviously become a less common requirement in recent decades. Culture of Iceland Names by culture Surnames Naming conventions
Icelandic name
This is Wikipedia at its best: An interesting topic that I would never have thought of looking up, and which would't fit into standard encyclopedias, explained clearly and succinctly - even a Bjork reference at the end to hook it into popular culture without diluting it. Good stuff. == Family names == The article is right that at large there are no family names in Iceland, however some people (such as me) have one "Arnfjörð" is a family name in my family. So i have a "first name - family name - fathers name. It's rare, but there are exceptions to this "rule". Also, alot of people, especially in later times have middle names which are not family names such as "Ingi Freyr Jónsson". Also it could be mentioned that foo barson is akin to foo bin bar as used in some muslim countries. --User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/ User talk:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/ [ Bjarmason] User:Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason/ 21:41, 2004 Sep 8 (UTC) == Family names trivia == Actually to be technically correct, you can only have a family name if you have the right to have one (i.e. if your parents have one, usually the father). If you have a family name you need not have a patronym, as the article implies (see http://www.althingi.is/lagasofn/nuna/1996045.html for the original legal text). About 10% of the population have family names and no new family names can be used. –User:128.2.47.26 :And how did the ancestors of this 10% come to adopt family names? Did they, for example, belong to a more privileged group perhaps (as was the case in Japan, where most commoners had no surnames)? Also, are titles like Mr/Dr attached to the first name (e.g. Dr. Ævar)? User:A-giau 12:09, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::Probably, according to [http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.asp?id=1405 this] they became popular in the 19th century due to danish influance this didn't sit very well with the goverment who attempted to ban them in 1881 (
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