Icelandic Name - Matronymic Naming As A Choice

Matronymic Naming As A Choice

The vast majority of Icelandic surnames carry the name of the father, but occasionally the mother's name is used: e.g., in cases where the child or mother wishes to end social ties with the biological father. Some women use it as a social statement while others simply choose it as a matter of style. An Icelander whose father's identity is uncertain may also carry a matronymic name.

In all of these cases, the convention is the same: Ólafur, the son of Bryndís, will have the full name of Ólafur Bryndísarson ("the son of Bryndís"). One well-known Icelander with a matronymic name is football player Heiðar Helguson ("Helga's son"), another is novelist Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir ("Minerva's daughter"). One medieval example is the poet Eilífr Goðrúnarson ("Goðrún's son").

In the Icelandic film Bjarnfreðarson the title character's name is the subject of some mockery for his having a woman's name — as Bjarnfreður's son — not his father's. In the film this is connected to her radical feminism and shame over his paternity, which form part of the film's plot.

Some people have both a matronymic and a patronymic: for example, Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson ("the son of Bergþóra and Eggert"), a former mayor of Reykjavík.