Eight new names approved for Icelandic name register while two are rejected by committee

The Naming Committee recently convened and approved eight new names to be added to the Icelandic name register. The accepted names include six female names—Imba, Dúrra, Hafsól, Melía, Marselín, and Sisa—and two male names, Milan and Ekkó. All these names comply with Icelandic orthographic traditions.

However, two male names were rejected: Gonzales and Baldr. Gonzales was deemed incompatible with Icelandic writing rules due to the inclusion of the letter ‘z,’ which does not conform to established conventions. Additionally, the name has not acquired a tradition within the Icelandic language. The applicant sought to use Gonzales as a middle name, but this request was also denied as it does not stem from Icelandic roots.

The committee provided a detailed rationale for rejecting the name Baldr, which was submitted without the ‘u’ at the end. This spelling was found to be inconsistent with general writing rules. The committee referenced Old Norse phonetics, noting that there was a historical phonetic distinction between words ending in ‘-r’ and those ending in ‘-ur.’ It wasn’t until the fourteenth century that ‘u’ started to appear in the pronunciation of words like ‘maðr’ and ‘fagr,’ which evolved into ‘maður’ and ‘fagur,’ respectively. Furthermore, there are no registered Icelanders with the name Baldr, indicating it has not gained a foothold in the language.