Got my camera.... and this is my most wonderful superfabulisious cousin Jóhanna and the photos are from her dinner last week. She makes THE best curries, actually whatever food Jóhanna cooks tastes great. Here she is getting the glasses for the non declared alcoholics in the family.
This little cutie is Finnur - he is the cutest little kid - but hey he has good genes - he is Jóhanna's grandson.
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This is my dads eldest brother and his daughter in law - Eyrún. Eyrún is married to Rúnar...my uncles wife's name is Rúna
And... here we have Rúnar and Rúna... this Rúna is Jóhanna's younger daughter....
I love Icelandic naming traditions... it used to be a tradition that all children were named in the "head" or as we say in english named after someone in the family. I am named in the memory of my great grandmother Sigríður, all these Rúnars and Rúnas get their names from my uncles wifes side, little Finnur is named after his grandfather Finnur - Jóhanna´s husband. Look at the food... yummmmm.
More on names... when I was growing up in Australia I was the only Sigríður for many thousands of miles. So by the time I left I was a one name person (not really but sort of like Madonna) everyone knew me as Sigga - I no longer needed a surname... In Iceland I am one of 4,842 Sigríðurs.
The base of Rúnar and Rúna's names is Rún which is ofcourse in english Rune - ie the symbols used by vikings both for magical symbols as well as a form of writing.
The trend these days is that "modern" Icelanders are naming their children "út í loftið" - out in the air... no longer sticking to these older traditions - which is in my mind a bit sad, but then I do understand that they want their children to have their own identity and not to always bring relations, or for that matter the dead, to mind.
Another strange thing is that there is a committee that says whether or not a name can be used. This is because Icelandic declines nouns so it is important that a persons name can be declined properly... it´s always rather amusing when the committee lets the public know which names have or have not been approved. Another dumb fact is that the most common names in Iceland (female) were Guðrún, Anna and Sigríður.... the most common boys names Jón, Sigurður and Guðmundur... because we have a national registry and we all have id numbers this information is easilly obtainable - also we are only 330 thousand.. so if you want to scroll through the first names of all icelanders in the year 2005 (with the number of people with that name in brackets) check out wiki on the following link http://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Dslensk_mannan%C3%B6fn_eftir_notkun the names in red are of our "foreign" folk..
And it has to end with the dog...
8 comments:
Hey my brother's name is in there! Jeffrey (16) only 16 Jeff's huh? That's plenty! I like that list! Cool. I should move there, I would be the only Jolea for miles! Actually, I think I am the only Jolea for miles in my own country. I met one in Australia though!
Jolea is a great name.. what inspired your folks to call you that - or should I direct that question to your mamma (which in fact is mum in Icelandic)?
Jeffrey Jay was named after his dad, Jody Jay... Jolea was named after her three uncles. Danny Joe, Davey Lee and Robert Michael. Her middle name is Michael. Jody was named after a dear friend of his parents and I'm named for a lady in a poem (one of my dad's favorites) Judith of the Blue Lake. And my mom's favorite aunt... Aunt Aline. I think it's important to name kids after their family history. It makes for great stories... I'm all about stories! I even had a name ready if I'd had another baby girl. Janey May after my mom and Jody's mom.
My Sweetie's name is Georg Bjarni after his Grandfather - his Mom's name is Gudlug (I don't have that character on my keyboard) - there are about 1/2 dozen Bjarnis running around in his family. I love Icelandic names and traditions - and his uncle was Siggi. What a nice post.
Now I´m blushing.... to much compliment (¨,) - thanks Sigga min - you are the best...
But the thing is, that you are a much better cook than I - believe you me(:))
And I found my ring - I just took a look in my knitting-bag - and there it was - scooped off the table, right into the bag - jibby.... Love ya...
What an awesome page! There were more Olgas than I expected. Not a single Ross, though.
I really like the naming traditions, too. It does get a little bit confusing at extended family gatherings, but that's okay. I've always been 'little olga,' which is fine by me!
Also, I guess there's the desire to have international names that work in different languages - Kristín works pretty well in English, Ársól does not.
Aw, can't wait for family gatherings!
x
Interesting list! So I suppose the most common full name might be Guðrún Jónsdóttir?
Some of these blue names don't seem very Icelandic to me though; #759 Charlotte (48), for instance.
Nice to see 1484 Kristinns, though with only 109 Sigurþórs I suppose it's unlikely any of them have exactly the same name as me.
Fascinating that there are 11 'Bogeys'. I could stare at this for ages.
Fascinating post!
Jason jokes about naming one of our children Bogey. And another one Bugga. I like Olivia for a girl.. it's similar to Olafia.
I have no idea what boys names I like... maybe Olaf! hehe
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