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b'Icelandic names can be difficult to pronounce, spell and understand when being spoken, especially for someone that doesn\\u2019t know the language. Even though, Icelandic people are pretty laid back about many things, mainly because they live in a world where flexibility of plans is a crucial part of their survival, they take their names seriously. I will first start out with explaining the structure of Icelandic names, and then I will delve a bit deeper into the fascinating rules and unique cultural aspects of this system.
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\\nStructure of Icelandic Names
\\nIn Iceland, a native person\\u2019s last name is usually a combination of their father\\u2019s first name and if they are his daughter or son. I say usually because this system is mostly patronymic. However, there are people whose last name is a combination of their mother\\u2019s first name and if they are her daughter or son.
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\\nFor example, let\\u2019s say there is a woman named Gu\\xf0r\\xfan who has a father with the first name J\\xf3n. Her name will be Gu\\xf0r\\xfan J\\xf3nsd\\xf3ttir, or literally Gu\\xf0r\\xfan the daughter of J\\xf3n. If there is a man named Gu\\xf0mundur and his father\\xb4s first name is Helgi, his name will be Gu\\xf0mundur Helgason.  Literally, his name is  Gu\\xf0mundur the son of Helgi. You might have noticed that the names J\\xf3n and Helgi changed a little bit when they became last names (J\\xf3nsd\\xf3ttir and Helgason). This has to do with the structure of the Icelandic language and how words are declined depending on the grammatical case they are in.
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\\nAdditionally, someone\\u2019s last name can be a combination of their parent\\u2019s middle name and their gender.  Some Icelandic people prefer to be called by their middle name rather than their first name. In fact, an Icelander might decide that their middle fits the child\\u2019s name better when made into a last name.
\\nAn Easy System to Learn
\\nWhile this system might confusing at first, the good news is that the learning curve for understanding this system is fairly easy. If you know an Icelandic person\\u2019s full name, you will know right away if they are male or female. This can be helpful, especially since some Icelandic first names are quite unique. For instance, it might be hard for a foreigner to know if someone named Gu\\xf0bj\\xf6rg is male or female. Just for the record, it is a female name.  Random side note, I am curious to see how Iceland\\u2019s system adapts to individuals that do not conform to a gender, but I won\\u2019t be diving into that topic today.
\\nA Country (Mostly) Without Family Names
\\nBecause an Icelandic person\\u2019s last name is dependent on one of their parent\\u2019s first names and their gender, there are mostly no family names. For example, a family of four that has two parents and two kids, one male and the other female, will all have different last names. In the following example, I will do my best to explain this. However, if it gets confusing, please check out the list of names for the family below.
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\\nGunnar Gu\\xf0mundsson is married to Katr\\xedn Einarsd\\xf3ttir. They have two kids, a daughter named Gu\\xf0n\\xfd and a son named Bj\\xf6rgvin. The parents have decided to take the traditional route and the kids last names will have the father\\u2019s first name. The full names of the kids are Gu\\xf0n\\xfd Gunnarsd\\xf3ttir and Bj\\xf6rgvin Gunnarsson. When you look at all of the names spelled out in a row, they are all different.
\\nIcelandic Family of 4 (Example)
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\\n \\t* Gunnar Gu\\xf0mundsson
\\n \\t* Katr\\xedn Einard\\xf3ttir
\\n \\t* Gu\\xf0n\\xfd Gunnarsd\\xf3ttir
\\n \\t* Bj\\xf6rgvin Gunnarsson
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\\nOf course, same sex siblings, such as brothers, will have the same last name in a family as long as they share the same father or mother whose first or middle name is being used for their last name.
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\\nIcelandic people do not see this system as strange. However,  the majority of people from other countries are shocked to hear this fact.'