Baby names in Iceland

January 3rd, 2013 at 11:57:49 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Pay attention Wiz!

Iceland has Personal Names Register, a list of 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names that fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules and that officials maintain will protect children from embarrassment. Parents can take from the list or apply to a special committee that has the power to say yea or nay.

In a curious twist, the name in question is not some strange invention of the parents, but a perfectly normal Icelandic word, Blaer which means "light breeze". It was turned down as a girl's name on the grounds that the word Blaer takes a masculine article.

The name was used for a female character in a novel by Iceland's Nobel Prize-winning author Halldor Laxness (1902 – 1998), and was mistakenly approved by the priest who baptized the young girl (now age 15).

Blaer is identified as "Stulka" — or "girl" — on all her official documents, but she has not taken an approved name. She and her mother are now suing the government to get her name approved.

I wonder what the Wizard's list would look like for Iceland? If all the names were used equally, then there would be roughly 90 people per name. I wonder if some of them are at zero, while others are at 2000. Do parents agonize over the current count, and look for a name used 5 times, or do they aim for the middle? Since the phone book lists people by first name, I wonder if people get a lot of mistaken calls.



If people see a picture of INGBIBJÖRG RAGNHEIÒUR, does the INGBIBJÖRG go up or down in popularity? Presumably if the name Kim increases in popularity, you can suspect it is because of Kim Kardashian. But there is always some room for doubt with a name like Kim.

If you name your daughter "Apple" then you are clearly copying Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. But if you name your daughter INGBIBJÖRG it is hard to argue that it was the name of a beloved great aunt,
January 3rd, 2013 at 2:09:12 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
I actually found the government site from some Icelandic Wizard
Icelandic Male Names

A little disappointing that the number one name is Jón with 5,371 occurrences amounting to 3.35% of the population.

Fortunately the number one name for girls is not Mary. Ingibjörg turns out to be ranked #8.

In the registry
Number Frequency
1 Guðrún (1) 4,953 3.11 (meaning is Wisdom, or divinely inspired wisdom)
2 Anna (2) 4,461 2.80
3 Sigríður (3) 3,615 2.27
4 Kristín (4) 3,607 2.27
5 Margrét/Margrjet/Margret (5) 2,994 1.88
6 Helga (6) 2,805 1.76
7 Sigrún (7) 2,591 1.63
8 Ingibjörg (8) 2,261 1.42
9 Jóhanna (9) 1,988 1.25
10 María (10) 1,937 1.22


Female names born in 2011
Number Frequency
1 Emilía/Emelía (1) 35 1.61
2 Lilja (14-18) 33 1.52
3 Sara (2) 32 1.48
4-5 Elísabet/Elísabeth (21) 29 1.34
4-5 Emma (12-13) 29 1.34
6-7 Katrín (4-6) 27 1.24
6-7 Kristín (7-8) 27 1.24
8-9 Anna (4-6) 25 1.15
8-9 Eva (3) 25 1.15
10 María (7-8) 24 1.11
January 4th, 2013 at 11:10:36 AM permalink
Ayecarumba
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 89
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I understand from news reports, that parents can apply to a "review board" for approval of names that are not on the list, and that they were pretty easy going. However, boys names for girls, or names that have letters that are not part of the Icelandic alphabet (the letter "C") are typically turned down.

Interestingly, the law was originally established to reduce teasing by other children.
January 4th, 2013 at 6:33:17 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Ayecarumba
Interestingly, the law was originally established to reduce teasing by other children.


The Iceland case is about a name which is not strongly associated with one gender like "A Boy Named Sue". For instance the actress Jaimie King (photo below) chose to use the name "Jamie King" professionally to avoid conflict with another actress with the same name, despite the fact that the second spelling is usually a boy's name.


The name Blaer is an approved masculine name, and is clearly Icelandic, but the issue is using it for a girl's name.

I believe in the USA it is illegal to name a child Dawgsheet, Phatty or Efyou, but you can fiddle with names so much that there are cases of urban grandparents who can't remember how to spell the names of their grandchildren.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:19:59 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
A remember a recent story of an (I think) Australian couple being denied naming their kid "4real".

And then there's the Jersey couple who named their children Adolf Hitler and Aryan Nation.

Should there be a line drawn? I hate government imposements, but....
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
January 5th, 2013 at 10:00:20 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Face
A remember a recent story of an (I think) Australian couple being denied naming their kid "4real".

And then there's the Jersey couple who named their children Adolf Hitler and Aryan Nation.

Should there be a line drawn? I hate government imposements, but....


The Australian couple chose "superman" when "4real" was rejected. "Superman" was not considered illegal.
The New Jersey couple actually got away with "Hitler" for 9 years, but a news story about a birthday cake got them arrested.

(1) Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 the 43-character name (pronounced “Albin”) was rejected in Sweden. The parents then submitted just the letter “A” — also pronounced “Albin” — as a replacement. It too was rejected. The names were chosen in protest of laws which imposed restrictions on baby names.

(2) Metallica, @, and LEGO are three other names also rejected in Sweden

Speaking of symbols for names, I don't know if the "Artist formerly known as Prince" ever tried to legally change his name to the symbol


(3) "Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii" was a the name of a 9-year-old girl in New Zealand. The child was put into court guardianship so that her name could be changed.

(4) Huckleberry was rejected because Huckleberry Finn is considered an outsider in Mark Twain’s novels.

Zowie Bowie now uses the name Duncan Jones.

The unique baby names have become almost an obsession with some African American women.
1) Tequiefah
2) Zina
3) Adelie
4) Afric
5) Laquinta
6) Molli
7) Cimberleigh
8) Morissa
9) Alastriona
10) Ailisa
11) Leontina
12) Aruba
13) Marilda
14) Ascencion
15) Lidoine
16) Winema
17) Eraman
18) Karline
19) Edwinna
20) Yseult
21) Florencia
22) Bethsaida
23) Aminah
24) Onida
25) Encarnacion