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Icelandic names differ from most current Western family name systems by being patronymic (occasionally matronymic): they reflect the father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage. Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark with its crown dependency, the Faroe Islands. Icelanders, however, unlike other Scandinavians, have continued to use their traditional name system, which was formerly used by all Nordic nations. The Icelandic system is thus not based on family names (although some people do have family names and might use both systems). Generally, a person's last name indicates the first name of his/her father (patronymic) or in some cases mother (matronymic). Some family names do exist in Iceland, mostly inherited from parents of foreign origin, while others are adopted. Notable Icelanders who have an inherited family name include former prime minister Geir Haarde, football star Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen, actor Magnús Scheving, film director Baltasar Kormákur Samper, actress Anita Briem and member of parliament (and former news reporter) Elín Hirst. Before 1925, it was legal to adopt new family names; one Icelander to do so was the Nobel Prize-winning author Halldór Laxness, while another author, Einar Hjörleifsson and his brothers all chose the family name "Kvaran". Since 1925, one cannot adopt a family name unless one explicitly has a legal right to do so through inheritance.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://eng.innanrikisraduneyti.is/laws-and-regulations/english/personal-names )〕 First names not previously used in Iceland must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee ((アイスランド語:Mannanafnanefnd)) before being used. The criterion for acceptance of names is whether or not they can be easily incorporated into the Icelandic language. With some exceptions, they must contain only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet (including þ and ð), and it must be possible to decline the name according to the language's grammatical case system, which in practice means that a genitive form can be constructed in accordance with Icelandic rules. Gender-inappropriate names are normally not allowed; however, in January 2013, a 15-year-old girl named Blær (a masculine noun in Icelandic) was allowed to keep this name in a court decision that overruled an initial rejection by the naming committee.〔(Blaer Bjarkardottir, Icelandic Teen, Wins Right To Use Her Given Name ), ''Huffington Post'', 31 January 2013〕 Her mother Björk Eiðsdóttir didn't realize at the time that Blær was considered masculine, rather, she had read a novel by Halldór Laxness, ''The Fish Can Sing'', 1957, that had an admirable female character named Blær, meaning “light breeze”, and had decided that if she had a daughter, she would name her Blær.〔(Fergus Hodgson, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Because It’s Illegal (interview with Blær and her mother Björk), ''The Stateless Man'', January 28, 2013 ), ''Huffington Post'', 31 January 2013〕 See also Icelandic Naming Committee#Blær Bjarkardóttir Rúnarsdóttir. ==Typical Icelandic naming== A man named ''Jón Einarsson'' has a son named ''Ólafur''. Ólafur’s last name will not be ''Einarsson'' like his father’s; it will become ''Jónsson'', literally indicating that ''Ólafur'' is the son of ''Jón'' (Jóns + son). The same practice is used for daughters. Jón Einarsson's daughter ''Sigríður''’s last name would not be ''Einarsson'' but ''Jónsdóttir''. Again, the name literally means "Jón’s daughter" (Jóns + dóttir). In some cases, an individual’s surname is derived from a parent's middle name instead of the first name. For example, if Jón is the son of Hjálmar Arnar Vilhjálmsson he may either be named Jón Hjálmarsson (Jón, son of Hjálmar) or Jón Arnarsson (Jón, son of Arnar). The reason for this may be that the parent prefers to be called by the middle name instead of the first name; this is fairly common. It may also be that the parent’s middle name seems to fit the child’s first name better. In cases where two people in the same social circle bear the same first name and the same father’s name, they have traditionally been distinguished by their paternal grandfather’s name, e.g. Jón Þórsson Bjarnarsonar (Jón, son of Þór, son of Bjarni) and Jón Þórsson Hallssonar (Jón, son of Þór, son of Hallur). This practice has now become less common (the use of middle names having replaced it), but features conspicuously in the Icelandic sagas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Icelandic name」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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