Iceland’s appropriations committee has submitted a proposal to parliament, suggesting ISK 25 million (EUR 271,461, USD 357,041) to be put into updating the National Registry computer system, including eliminating name abbreviations.
Currently, names longer than 31 letters do not fit into the computer system of the National Registry, meaning that 22,000 Icelanders are not listed by their full names, as Bladid reports.
Elín Björk Bruun, a mother who had to accept that her daughters’ names were too long for the Registry, told Bladid that it is a matter of human rights for every citizen to be registered by his or her full name.
The middle names of Bruun’s daughters, Hildur Snjólaug Bruun Gardarsdóttir and Margrét Agla Bruun Gardarsdóttir, are registered as S-i and A-i.
The computer system of the National Registry, which has personal information about all Icelanders, has often been criticized and is regarded out of date. It is, for instance, not possible to register the change of legal custody of children who have been adopted.
