Icelandic Laws Concerning Personal Names and their Influence

• Autores: Guorún Kvaran
• Localización: Onoma: Journal of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences, ISSN 0078-463X, Nº. 47, 2012 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Names and law), págs. 163-179
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Laws concerning Icelandic personal names have been in effect in Iceland since the year 1913. The oldest laws covered first names, last names and family names. In 1925, 1991 and 1997 new laws took effect with substantial changes regarding what was allowed at a given time. This article discusses the influence of these laws on naming both of Icelanders and foreign nationals who take up residence in Iceland. Rules concerning first names of Icelanders have been relaxed but rules for family-names tightened. Nevertheless, new first names will not be registered without the consent of a special committee, active since 1991. It is now legal to take the name of either the father or mother or both as last name which is not a family name. Also, it is now permissible to adopt middle names, which are in many respects becoming quasi-equivalent to family names. The same committee must accept these middle names and enter them in a special registry. Foreign nationals receive better treatment than before and are not obligated to take up an Icelandic name. The last revisions to the naming-laws have had both positive and negative impacts on the language system that this article aims to point out and demonstrate by examples. For example, the use of foreign spelling of names that are accepted in the registry, provided there is an established tradition for them in a legal sense, is often inconsistent with the Icelandic phonological and morphological system, thus causing confusion as to the proper pronunciation and spelling. The same thing applies if the same name can both be a first and a middle name but with different declinations. The greater tolerance of the laws has also had significant impact on the Icelandic stock of names. Old and rooted names pass away in favour of fashionable foreign ones. The changes that the laws have brought about and their impact on Icelandic naming traditions are discussed in the paper.