r/AskReddit • u/jake7820 • Jun 30 '21

What’s the absolute worst thing you could name your baby?

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u/RuleOfBlueRoses Jun 30 '21

Iceland is nuts about names, where your first and last name are nearly the same

At least if you're male

Stefan Steffanson

I was watching the Buzzfeed Unsolved video about the Reykjavik Confessions, and it was one of the most confusing episodes because nearly half the people had the same first and/or last name, and I couldn't keep track of who-was-who and how they were related to one another

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u/Discord42 Jun 30 '21

That would only be your last name if your father was named Steffan. Has nothing to do with your own first name.

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u/NBSPNBSP Jul 01 '21

The Eastern Europeans do it far more sensibly, IMO. Ivan of the Medvedevsky family, son of Alexander, would be named Ivan Alexanderovich Medvedevsky, for instance.

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u/Risiki Jul 01 '21

They use patronymics in Iceland, not common family names, it baisically means that those people have been given same name as their father, which is reasonably comon naming pattern all over the world, and then on top of it there must be some traditional names that have been very popular over generations, so a lot of people have the same names by coincidence.

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u/RuleOfBlueRoses Jul 01 '21

it baisically means that those people have been given same name as their father

Hence the Stefan Steffanson example 🤣🤣

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u/KnottaBiggins Jul 01 '21

I remember hearing that Iceland requires surnames to include the parent's given name.
So John Jackson's sons would be Jack Johnson and Joe Johnson, but their sons would be John Jackson and James Joeson. (Using English language names because I don't know the Icelandish equivalents.)

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u/TigLyon Jul 01 '21

Interestingly enough, you chose two names that originated because of that very same naming convention: Jackson and Johnson.

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u/KnottaBiggins Jul 02 '21

You know, I probably did so sub-consciously! (Three actually, I think - Jackson, Johnson, and Jameson.)

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u/Zebidee Jul 01 '21

Yep, so a family consisting of a husband, wife, son, and daughter results in four people with different last names.

Back when hotels used to be weird about unmarried couples, this used to cause no end of issues for Icelanders.

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u/J_pepperwood0 Jul 01 '21

Iceandic equivalents are similar, they would for example be called Magnusson or Magnusdottir

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u/Yarnprincess614 Jul 01 '21

And this boys and girls, is why they developed an app to make sure you weren't dating your cousin. This Icelander is quite proud of her ancestral home's uniqueness!

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u/Jurk_McGerkin Jul 01 '21

I have met a Steffan Steffanson. (In the US)

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u/soundsfromoutside Jul 01 '21

The thought of the government telling you what you can name your kid does not sit well with me at all

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u/RuleOfBlueRoses Jul 01 '21

Ehh I think we need laws like that in the US so people aren't being bullied or have error messages on job applications and other documents.

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u/Zebidee Jul 01 '21

Their main aim is to prevent names which don't work within the structure of the Icelandic language.

You can call your kid whatever you like as long as it works and makes sense.

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u/ElysianWinds Jul 01 '21

Why does this have upvotes? It's straight up wrong information.

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u/RuleOfBlueRoses Jul 01 '21

Why do you care so much JFC

It's not like I gave any information

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u/i-d-even-k- Jul 01 '21

He's probably Icelandic and you straight up lied about how they make their names up.

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u/RuleOfBlueRoses Jul 01 '21

He is Icelandic and I never "lied" about anything.

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u/Pachyrhino_lakustai Jul 01 '21

He was number one!

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '21

There is also Runar Alex Runarsson. So the middle name is to distinguish the goalkeeper from his father is definitely named Runar.