Icelandic Names

Most Icelanders follow the ancient tradition of deriving their last name from the first name of their father (patronymic system). If a man is called Leifur Eiriksson, his proper or given name is Leifur, and his patronymic is Eiriksson (the son of a man named Eirikur). A woman called Margret Jonsdottir has the proper name Margret and her patronymic is Jonsdottir, i.e. the daughter of Jon. Women do not change their name after marriage. In a family of four, a couple with a boy and a girl, all four will therefore usually have different last names.

Icelanders address each other by their first name. The last name (patronymic) is never used alone. Icelanders say for example, "the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson," but never "President Grímsson".

A small percentage of the population uses family names, but new family names cannot legally be adopted.