I don’t mind at all about Judeo-[name_m]Christian[/name_m] origin, but names beginning with [name_m]Krist[/name_m] or Guð are out for us, it’s just too blatant a reference when we are both atheists. Not all of the international names are biblical, though (Róbert, Óskar, [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_m]Karl[/name_m], [name_m]Erik[/name_m]…).
Arnór/ Arnar, ”rni are all great examples of where I feel the English pronunciation is mispronunciation more than just different accent. It would irritate me to hear Arn pronounced other than Artn, and my family would probably say something like [name_f]Ana[/name_f], which I don’t think is a reasonable approximation. I either want to find names where they can (basically) say it, or international names where they can say it in a different but still correct way.
Honestly I think I’ve considered every name on the mannanafnaskrá by now! Here are my feelings on the names you mentioned:
Yes, I do quite like [name_u]Ari[/name_u]. But I find it a bit short, and I remember a story about teasing a guy called [name_u]Ari[/name_u] by putting a noun in front of the name (it’s also a suffix meaning -er or -ist, e.g. hjól is bike and hjólari is cyclist). Plus it sounds like [name_m]Harry[/name_m] with certain British accents (some of us drop our hs). It’s a shaky maybe.
[name_m]Ragnar[/name_m], Magnús, Halldór and [name_m]Einar[/name_m] are just so middle-aged and dated, and tbh plain boring. They are classics, but they are dad names in my opinion. In [name_f]England[/name_f] I suppose the equivalents would be [name_m]Steve[/name_m], [name_m]Roger[/name_m], [name_m]Colin[/name_m], [name_m]Richard[/name_m], [name_m]Ian[/name_m] (might not be the same for the USA, though).
[name_m]Gunnar[/name_m] I think is very handsome in Icelandic, but I can’t stand how people say [name_m]Gunner[/name_m] in English and make it sound so aggressive and cartoonish. I know a guy called [name_m]Gunnar[/name_m] who has spent a lot of time abroad and it annoys him a lot. That’s the sort of thing I am actively trying to avoid.
I love Halldór Laxness! Favourite author of all time! I’m so excited to see you’re a fan (that’s totally where I love Bjartur from, I’m sure you guessed :)) [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t like his name though, and really dislike [name_f]Halli[/name_f] and Dóri (he was a Dóri I believe). I sometimes toy with his adopted middle name Kiljan, but I think I prefer his character names really, especially the women. Sóllilja, Snæfríður and Salvör are guilty pleasures of mine for girls.
Wait, I have not considered every name on the list! I have never heard Hallmar! Where did you find that one? There are 11 people in the country with that name. It would become [name_f]Halli[/name_f] though, and there’s the ll sound.
[name_u]Neil[/name_u] / [name_u]Niall[/name_u] are quite nice but not Njáll, I find it very harsh-sounding and with the ll sound it’s a real challenge (for this reason Páll is out as well). Great character, hate the name. It’s a shame because if I ‘translated’ my father’s name, Njáll would be the Icelandic equivalent. But I really can’t stand the sound.
Týr is… I would name a cat Týr, not a person. There are 10 people called Týr and all but one is very young. It’s also a trendy middle name, with a very short tradition for use on people. [name_m]Just[/name_m] completely not my style. Great pet name, though.
Valdimar I want to love, but it reminds me of Voldemort and I can’t handle [name_f]Valli[/name_f]. It’s like [name_u]Wally[/name_u] in Icelandic (Hvar er [name_f]Valli[/name_f] = Where’s [name_u]Wally[/name_u]/[name_m]Waldo[/name_m]).
Pétur I kind of like, it’s on the second tier of international names I would consider. I could maybe be persuaded on it if it turned out to be one that bf loved, and let the family say [name_m]Peter[/name_m].
Tómas I love but it’s taken.
Others that are on my radar, but I don’t love, are [name_m]Emil[/name_m], Brynjar, Atli, Hjalti, Baldur, Kári, [name_m]Sindri[/name_m], Hlynur, Snorri, Ingvar, Reynir, Elvar, Finnur, Yngvi, Höskuldur. They all seem to have some strike or another against them though. [name_f]My[/name_f] favourite international options are Matthías, [name_m]Le[/name_m]ó, Óskar and Róbert.
It’s so fun discussing Icelandic names, thanks for indulging me - especially since you seem to know something about it? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have some connection to Iceland or have you visited here?