Icelandic Surnames

November 15, 2024 Post a Comment

Icelandic surnames

In Iceland, a person is called by their first name in both formal and informal situations, or sometimes addressed using both names. As family names generally don't exist, the last name (son and daughter of) is never used on its own. Sometimes, Icelanders adopt a middle name for clarification.

What are common Icelandic surnames?

Common Icelandic surnames

Jónsdóttir.
Jónsson.
Sigurðardóttir.
Guðmundsdóttir.
Guðmundsson.
Sigurðsson.
Gunnarsdóttir.
Gunnarsson.

How are surnames given in Iceland?

The naming system in Iceland is the old Scandinavian system which all the countries once used. It is a paternal system where the father gives his children his first name as their last name adding -son if the child is a boy and -dóttir if the child is a girl. This might seem confusing at first, but really it is not.

What is unusual about surnames in Iceland?

Icelandic surnames are different from most other naming systems in the modern Western world by being patronymic or occasionally matronymic: they indicate the father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage.

What are Viking last names?

Vikings did not have surnames as we know them today. They used the patronymic system or more rarely, a metronymic was used. Snorri Sturluson means Snorri, son of Sturla, for example.

What DNA do Icelanders have?

Genetic evidence suggests that approximately 62% of the Icelandic maternal gene pool is derived from Ireland and Scotland, which is much higher than other Scandinavian countries, although comparable to the Faroese, while 37% is of Nordic origin.

What is the most Icelandic name?

For males the top three names are: Jón, Sigurður and Guðmundur. 6216 people in Iceland are named Guðrún, making it the most popular name of all. The name is female and means the letter of god. 6194 people in Iceland are named Jón.

How do old Norse last names work?

The patronymic naming system was used in all of Scandinavia. That means a person's family name was formed by taking the first name of the natural father and adding a suffix identifying their gender to it. This allows you to identify a person's father.

Why do Icelandic names end in daughter?

Why do Icelandic names end in dottir? Because -dottir is a suffix that means "daughter of" and it is added to the father's name to create a girl's surname.

What names are not allowed in Iceland?

If your name contains a 'c,' you're in trouble. That's because, in Iceland, children don't carry their father's surname— they take on completely new last name based on their father's (or occasionally mother's) first name, plus the word “son” or “dóttir,” depending on their gender.

What is the most common surname in Iceland?

Currently, some of the most regularly occurring last names are:

Jónsdóttir or Jónsson.
Kristjánsson or Kristjánsdóttir. ...
Guðmundsdóttir or Guðmundsson. ...
Einarsson or Einarsdóttir. ...
Sigurðardóttir or Sigurðsson. ...
Ólafsson or Ólafsdóttir. ...
Magnúsdóttir or Magnússon. ...
Jóhannsson or Jóhannsdóttir.

Can you name your child anything in Iceland?

A child may only be named by those who have custody of the child. If a child is to be given a name that is not listed on the National Register of Persons, an application must be submitted to the Personal Names Committee for approval of the name. A fee must be paid for a ruling concerning a new name that is not listed.

Can last names go extinct?

When two people marry, one of them often takes on their partner's last name, which means their original last name disappears. This way, a surname may be wiped out completely once its last bearer dies without passing it on.

What is a good rare last name?

Unique Last Names

Barlowe.
Caddel.
Hart.
Katz.
Laurier.
Madden.
Elrod.
Whitlock.

Do Icelandic siblings have different last names?

Because an Icelandic person's last name is dependent on one of their parent's first names and their gender, there are mostly no family names. For example, a family of four that has two parents and two kids, one male and the other female, will all have different last names.

What is the coolest Viking name?

What are good Viking names?

Arne: Meaning “eagle”.
Erik: Meaning “absolute ruler”.
Garold: Meaning “spear ruler”.
Harald: Meaning “lord and ruler”.
Njal: Meaning “giant”.
Ødger: Meaning “wealthy spear”.
Skarde: Meaning “cleft chin”.
Sten: Meaning “stone”.

What race has Viking DNA?

DNA from the Viking remains was shotgun sequenced from sites in Greenland, Ukraine, The United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Poland, and Russia. The team's analysis also found genetically Pictish people 'became' Vikings without genetically mixing with Scandinavians.

What is Thor's last name?

Thor Odinson, more commonly known as Thor, and sometimes by his title as the God of Thunder, is a fictional character portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and the Norse mythological god of the same name.

What color eyes do Icelanders have?

The highest prevalence of any of the eye color traits was observed in Uzbekistan (>90% for 'brown'), while Iceland followed closely with a prevalence of 74.52% for 'blue' eyes.

What color hair do Icelanders have?

In fact, it is thought that up to 50% of the Icelandic gene pool is from Ireland. Thus, the most common hair colour is a dark blonde, or mousey brown whilst the most common eye-colour is blue (—fine, some stereotypes live up to the name.)