Icelandic Names
This is really interesting, I think. Icelanders still use the (very) old-fashioned tradition of taking their last name from their father. Family members do not have the same last name so people here refer to each other by first, or given, name either alone or with their last name but never just their last name alone, such as Mr. Smith or Ms. Walker.Last names for men end in -son and women have last names that end in -dóttir. For example, a man named Erik (whose father's name is Leif) would have a last name of Leifsson, as in "the son of Leif" but his father's last name would be different from his, depending on what Erik's grandfather's name is. A woman named Lára (whose father's name is Gunnar) would have a last name of Gunnarsdóttir, and, again, her father's last name would be completely different as well. Phone books in Iceland are listed by first name. There are a very few Icelanders...
