Icelandic Names

Icelandic names follow ancient traditions that are quite unique. Most native Icelanders still take their last name from their father's first name. (Some people will use their mother's name instead, but it’s not as common.)

Therefore, the children of someone called Kristjan, are likely to have the surnames Kristjanson and Kristjansdóttir, which literally means Kristjan’s son and Kristjan’s daughter.

For this reason, brothers and sisters will likely have different last names. And since Icelandic women do not take their husband's name, Icelandic families usually have a
mixture of last names.

Another interesting thing locals told us is that Icelanders never call each other by their last name. To do so would seem really weird to them.Leer más