Naming Committee Accepts Jasmine But Rejects Winter

The Icelandic Naming Committee approved Jasmine as a proper name but rejected Winter as a middle name (editor’s note: “middle names” in Icelandic work more like secondary given names than the English meaning of “middle name”), reports RÚV.

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Jasmine was accepted even though it does not meet the criteria for acceptable names. The rules state that for a name to be accepted by the committee, at least 15 Icelanders must bear the name already.

According to the National Registry, only 12 people in Iceland are named Jasmine. However, if the name is pronounced similarly to the Icelandic name Jasmín, the name is acceptable. The Icelandic Naming Committees ruling states that there is such a minor difference between those names that it considers it justified to accept Jasmine in the name registry.

However, the committee rejected Winter as a middle name. According to the rules, middle names must be derived from Icelandic nouns or have acquired a tradition in Icelandic language. According to the Icelandic Naming Committee, Winter does not meet the criteria for a middle name, and thus it was not accepted.