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January 4

Icelandic Names and Naming Conventions

I guess this applies to any place (other nordic countries?) where there are strict naming conventions and rules so I would like to hear what goes on in different corners of the world, not just Iceland. Recently hearing about how there's a list of approved names and the existence and roles of the Icelandic Naming Committee, I have three questions. First, are there other countries which have similar systems where naming a baby is strictly controlled? Is it relatively common in the world? Second, what about children born to immigrant parents in Iceland for example? What if someone wanted to name their baby Kuo, Jose, or Khadija? Must the baby get an Icelandic name? Third, as an immigrant enters Iceland (as a permanent resident I mean), is his name changed? Officially on papers I mean? Just as how in Ellis Island immigrants had their names anglicized and an "American" name closest to what their original name was, was "given" to them back in the day. Is that a requirement, part of an integration process? Thanks. - Looking for Wisdom and Insight! (talk) 08:47, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The most striking thing about Icelandic naming conventions is that they don't usually have surnames as such, but rather non-hereditary patronymics. The country which seems to be most often in the news over restricting parents' rights to name their children is Sweden (see Naming law in Sweden)... AnonMoos (talk) 08:52, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You may find our article "Icelandic name" (which could do with more references) interesting: "The criterion for acceptance of names is whether or not they can be easily incorporated into the Icelandic language. First, they must contain only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet and second, they must be able to be declined (that is, modified according to their grammatical case)." — SMUconlaw (talk) 11:18, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This article and this one are about Sweden rather than Iceland, but notes that some Muslim immigrants have adopted the surname "Mohammedsson". — SMUconlaw (talk) 16:01, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Germany is well-known for requiring given names to be approved (though it does not seem to be so, as I believed until I read that article, that there is an official list. I had heard that there was, with subsidiary lists for particular immigrant communities). --ColinFine (talk) 14:01, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

German names are merly required to indicate the gender (at least one of the given names) and not be offensive or open to ridicule. British naming law is not so much different.81.156.176.219 (talk) 00:08, 5 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See this related story reported in the National Post.

Icelandic girl Blaer Bjarkardottir suing government to use her name | World | News | National Post (January 3, 2013)

—Wavelength (talk) 18:06, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Just wanted to pop in and note that new names were not given to immigrants at Ellis Island, beyond transliteration etc.--Cam (talk) 18:14, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

New names were not, as a rule, given to immigrants at Ellis Island, but stories abound of people with long family names that were difficult for American immigration officials to understand or spell having their names shortened, simplified, and/or anglicized. This seems to have happened especially often with Slavic names. Marco polo (talk) 19:09, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This only really happened when the immigrants were illiterate. Seven out of eight of my great-grandparents came through Ellis Island, none with an English surname, and none had their names changed. μηδείς (talk) 17:19, 5 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

From my Internet search for baby name restrictions, I found this article mentioning Germany, Sweden, Japan, Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand, China, and Norway.

8 Countries With Fascinating Baby Naming Laws - Mental Floss

—Wavelength (talk) 20:28, 4 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I had seen most of the links/articles (wikipedia and otherwise) and they were the original motivation for this question. A few I hadn't but now I have. I am still curious as to what happens with immigrants and what happens in the other parts of the world. One of the articles suggests that immigrants are actually eager to adopt Swedish-sounding names to "hasten their integration". But for those who might not be so eager to change their names, must your name be changed to comply with the local naming laws when you immigrate? - Looking for Wisdom and Insight! (talk) 06:39, 5 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There is no such rule in Sweden. Of course I can't find any source for the negative, but here's a leaflet about moving to Sweden, published by the Swedish Tax Agency which handles name changes in Sweden. It says nothing about changing your name to comply with local laws or custom. Sjö (talk) 11:57, 6 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think it would be technically difficult to use a name written in a non-existent Chinese hieroglyph, see Naming laws in the People's Republic of China. Also there was a case when Russian parents gave to their newborn a name entirely consisting of code-letters and numerals, but this was declined and they went to the court. Though I was not interested in what was the end of the story.--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 15:14, 6 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding changing their names to "hasten their integration", I suspect the motivation is getting employment. Regrettably, well qualified applicants with exotic names tend to have much more difficulty in getting a job than applicants with familiar sounding names. This happens in Norway, and doubtlessly in Sweden too. --NorwegianBlue^talk 15:02, 6 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, yes, it does. Sjö (talk) 16:43, 6 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]