Iceland is traditionally patronymic – which means that your surname is not a family name, like Smith, but is the genitive (possessive/belonging/origin) case of the father’s name, followed by son, dóttir or bur (son, daughter or gender neutral offspring).

Icelandic Surnames

In Iceland, a family consisting of a father, mother, son, daughter and child could all have different surnames.

Father – Arnar Vignisson. Mother – Lilja Gunnarsdóttir
Son – Huginn Arnarsson. Daughter – Sóley Arnarsdóttir. Child – Regn Arnarsbur 

This isn’t 100% the case of course. There are some fixed family names in Iceland, although that is incredibly rare. Sometimes a person may have, or choose to take, a matronym instead, often if the father isn’t around or someone the person doesn’t wish to associate with. Alternatively, if you are an immigrant, your children can have your family name.

How does that work when you marry?

Iceland also doesn’t make use of maiden names, nor double barrelling. When someone chooses to marry, they don’t usually change their surname name – they will always be the child of their parent, but they might not always be the spouse of another. You usually have your surname throughout your life.

Respectful terms like Sir or Mrs Smith

Another cultural thing that differs from other countries, is how you address someone with respect. Whereas we may call someone Mrs, Mr Smith, Smith, Sir or Ma’am – for example if they are a teacher or in a position of power – but it’s not the custom and doesn’t infer the same level of respect. You could call them meistari or Anarsson, but it isn’t the local custom, the surname is actually referring to their parent, and will definitely earn you some strange looks. You call them by their first name said with respect.

Is it true that Icelanders have to have their name approved?

Yes, it’s true! The last thing about Icelandic names is the Icelandic Naming Committee. A child needs to be registered within 6 months, and should you choose a pre-approved name, then everything is fine. Should you want a name that has not been previously registered, then you have to submit that name for approval.

The name itself needs to work in Icelandic – adapts to Icelandic language (the various cases etc) and spelling conventions. One example is there is no C in Icelandic, but it can be replaced with a K to work. And importantly, cannot cause the bearer embarrassment. The committee often faces scrutiny from the outside about personal freedoms, but within Iceland, it is generally seen as a way to preserve the language and the culture of a people with a 1200+ year history and population of 350,000.

Although an interesting caveat, if one parent is an immigrant, then one name doesn’t have to follow the Icelandic adaption, but one name will have to.

Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_language
https://island.is/en/name-giving   
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patronymic
https://www.statice.is/publications/news-archive/inhabitants/population-1-january-2026/
https://youtube.com/shorts/YBZ9eENW9l0?si=n03NFhdJ2g4oFEBO