The recent news about the Icelandic girl named Blær reminds me…
Did you know that the Mannanafnanefnd, Iceland’s Personal Names Committee, puts its baby name rulings online? Every acceptance and rejection going back to 2001 is available.
One particularly interesting ruling is the split decision that happened in late 2008 over the name Skallagrímur, which was ultimately rejected.
But the Mannanafnanefnd’s rulings are in Icelandic, and if you don’t read Icelandic, well, they’re a bit hard to make out. :) So, to make it easier, here are current lists of Iceland’s approved and rejected baby names:
- Approved boy names include Dagmann, Gunnar, Krummi, Rasmus, Sigurkarl & Yngvi
- Approved girl names include Baldvina, Freyja, Hrafntinna, Otkatla, Tristana & Vala
- Approved middle names include Austdal, Finndal, Gnurr, Öxdal, Storm & Víking
- Rejected names (boys, girls & middles) include Ben, Dominic, Harriet, Jennifer, Liam & Yasmin
Over 1,700 boy names and over 1,800 girl names have been given the Iceland’s stamp of approval so far.
Sources: I ain’t the only one who loves names!, Icelandic Name Committee Reaches Rare Split Decision
Update, 7/9/14 – The government of Iceland now has a separate website for approved and rejected baby names. I’ve just updated all the links.