OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Icelandic Name Generator
Icelandic Names With Patronymics, Viking Flavour and -son or -dóttir
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How the Icelandic Name Generator (Patronymic Rules) works
This icelandic name generator mixes real naming patterns into new names. Generate Icelandic names by the rules Iceland still uses: no surname, only a patronymic made from the father's name in the genitive with -son or -dóttir attached, so Jón's daughter Guðrún is Guðrún Jónsdóttir and his son Sigurður is Sigurður Jónsson. Switch to matronymics, Helgudóttir, or to both parents. Choose female, male or either and generate up to a hundred.
Icelandic name generator: choosing a name that fits
Iceland is the one country in Europe that never adopted surnames. The system the Vikings brought in the ninth century is the system today: a person has one or two given names and a patronymic, the father's name in the genitive case with son or dóttir added. Jón Einarsson's children are Guðrún Jónsdóttir and Sigurður Jónsson, and their children in turn are Sigurðardóttir and Sigurðarson, so a family of four has three different second names and the phone book is sorted by first name. The genitive is the trap for outsiders: Jón becomes Jóns, Sigurður becomes Sigurðar, Guðmundur becomes Guðmundar, Magnús becomes Magnúsar, Árni becomes Árna, Helgi becomes Helga, and the generator holds the father's names already in the genitive so the joins are right, Jónsson never Jónson, Sigurðardóttir never Sigurðurdóttir. Since 1991 the mother's name can be used instead or as well, so Katrín Helgudóttir is Helga's daughter and Bragi Guðrúnarson is Guðrún's son, and the generator's Matronymic and Both parents options build those, again from the genitive, Guðrúnar, Helgu, Önnu, Sigríðar. A small number of families carry inherited surnames adopted before a 1925 ban, Thors, Briem, Blöndal, and immigrants keep theirs; the generator leaves them out.
Given names are policed by the Icelandic Naming Committee, which must approve any name not already on the register, and which requires that a name take Icelandic grammatical endings and use only the Icelandic alphabet. The list is therefore conservative and Old Norse: Guðrún, Sigríður, Kristín, Margrét, Helga, Ingibjörg, Ragnheiður, Þórunn, Hrafnhildur for women, Jón, Sigurður, Guðmundur, Gunnar, Ólafur, Einar, Magnús, Björn, Þorsteinn, Hallgrímur for men, with the letters þ, ð, æ, ö and the accented vowels that mark the language. Double given names are very common, Anna María, Jón Þór, and the generator produces them. Recent decades have added Freyja, Embla, Emilía, Aron, Alexander and Viktor to the top lists, all of which passed the committee because they decline.
Icelanders are addressed by first name in every context, including the prime minister and the phone book, since the patronymic identifies a father and not the person. For the ancestor conventions, the Viking and Old Norse page; for the neighbours who replaced the system with frozen -sen and -sson names, the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish pages.
FAQ
How is an Icelandic patronymic formed?
From the father's given name in the genitive case plus son for a son or dóttir for a daughter. Jón gives Jónsson and Jónsdóttir, Sigurður gives Sigurðarson and Sigurðardóttir, Árni gives Árnason and Árnadóttir. The generator stores the genitives so the joins are correct.
Do Icelanders have surnames?
Almost never. A few families adopted surnames before 1925, when new ones were banned, and immigrants keep theirs, but the great majority use patronymics, so a married couple and their children all have different second names.
Can the mother's name be used?
Yes, since 1991. A matronymic takes the mother's name in the genitive, Helga gives Helgudóttir and Helguson, Guðrún gives Guðrúnardóttir, and a child can carry both parents' names in either order. The Matronymic and Both parents options build these.
Why are Icelandic given names so limited?
Because the Icelandic Naming Committee must approve any new name, and requires that it decline by Icelandic grammar and use only the Icelandic alphabet. The approved register has about four thousand names, most of them Old Norse, so the generator's lists are drawn from that stock.
Can I use these names for fiction or test data?
Yes. They are combinations of ordinary names and cannot be owned. Iceland is small and Jónsdóttir and Sigurðsson are very common, so a combination will coincide with real people; a name that will be attached to something public deserves a quick search.
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