New Names Added To National Registry

The Icelandic Names Committee (Mannanafnanefnd) made 24 rulings on names on August 6th and 11th, as reported by Vísir.

Among those approved were Svarthöfði, Bond, Appollo  and Blár. Skylar was also approved as a gender-neutral name, adding to a growing list.

In Iceland, children must be given a name before the age of six months. Several rules govern the naming of children, according to Mannanafnanefnd all names must:

be able to have a genitive ending or have been adopted through custom in the Icelandic language

be adaptable to the Icelandic language in structure and spelling

not cause embarrassment to the bearer

The name Blár was approved as being derived from the masculine noun blár, meaning “blue”. It changes case in the Icelandic language as: Blár, um Blá, frá Blá, til Blás.

A person is not allowed to have more than three personal names.

Different rules also apply to proper names and middle names, as demonstrated in Octavius being approved as a first name but denied as a middle name in the recent rulings.

In the same collection of rulings, a woman was finally allowed to name herself Kona, meaning “Woman” in Icelandic, after a two year struggle.

Full list of accepted names include: António, Annþór, Apollo, Blár, Bond, Charlie, Eljar, Foss, Octavius, Svarthöfði, Eileif, Kona, Kvika, Lissie, May, Saara, Sarah, Thalia, Skylar and Dalland. The denied names were Gunnarson, Degen, Foss, Octavius (as a middle name) and Welding.

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