It is a misunderstanding that Iceland’s Naming Committee rejects most names, according to the committee’s head, Ágústa Þorbergsdóttir.
“We want most [names] to be passed. The law is flexible and the vast majority of names are approved, much fewer are rejected,” she said in an interview with Morgunblaðið today.
The first names Christa, Krumma and Gill, and the middle name Eskfjörð, were recently approved but the name Íshak was rejected.
Icelandic naming laws have been a topic of heated discussion in Iceland in recent months after several high profile cases. Blær Bjarkardóttir, a 15-year-old who had been known as ‘girl’ in the National Registry, sued Icelandic authorities to have her name officially approved last year.
In a similar case last month, ten-year-old Harriet Cardew made headlines when she was denied a new passport on the basis that the authorities were no longer issuing passports to individuals without names approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee (her previous passport was issued under the name ‘girl’ Cardew).
