As you might now, Iceland is pretty strict when it comes to naming a child. You’re only allowed to use names that are approved by the Iceland Naming Committee. If you want to use a name that’s not in the Icelandic Personal Names register, you need to submit a request to the committee. Each year, several names are approved and rejected. In general, the committee has become less strict over the last few years. The committee could even be abolished in the future.
Personally, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m glad it’s become less strict. It would be hypocritical of me to say I’m all for the strict rules, because almost none of my children’s names are on the list (and if we ever want to move back to Iceland, we could be in trouble 
). But if I did still live in Iceland, I’d have no problem at all finding names on the list that I absolutely adore. It has its charm, and helps (the good bits of) our culture.
In general, for it to be approved a name has to:
- not cause the person bearing it to be embarrassed
- be adaptable to the structure and spelling of the Icelandic language
- be able to have a genitive ending (mainly because of the use of patronymics)
Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to share what new names have been approved and rejected this year (so far). Keep in mind that Icelandic names are still gendered, but it’s now allowed to use any name for any gender if you wish to do so. If names were approved for both genders, I’ve listed them under one gender and marked that it’s approved for both.
Very basic pronunciation guide
In Icelandic, the stress is always on the first syllable.
a - ah as in “car”
á - ou as in “shout”
e - eh as in “bet”
é - ye as in “yet”
o - as the a in “all”
ó - oa as in “boat”
u - as the u in “under”
ú - as in “boot”
i and y - ih as in “bin”
í and ý - ee as in “seek”
æ - i as in “ice”
ö - as in “fur”
Þ - as th in “thin”
Ð and ð - th as in “thunder”
ei and ey - ai as in “aide”
Double L ll is pronounced as “tl”
j - as the y in “yes”
f in the middle of a word is pronounced as v
hv is pronounced kv
This is a long list, so bear with me
Approved female names
- Adele
- Adríanna - Icelandic spelling of Adrianna
- Akarn - Icelandic worn name meaning “acorn”
- Alpa - meaning uncertain. Has been used occasionally in other Nordic countries
- Amarie - fantasy name, it had been rejected in 2019 but was now approved
- Ástmarý - new combination name
- Ayah - Arabic name
- Brim - modern name meaning “surf, surge”
- Brimey - new combination of brim meaning “surf, surge” and ey meaning “island”
- Denný - pet form of Denise
- Dillý - pet form of Dilja
- Dolma - uncertain meaning
- Eia - spelling variant of Eija
- Elfrið - Icelandic form of Elfrid (from eld “fire” and frid “beautiful, beloved, to foster”
- Emelí - spelling variant of Emeli
- Fævý - unknown meaning, probably a pet form
- Fjara - word name meaning “shore, beach”
- Freya - previously only the spelling Freyja was allowed
- Gaja - Nordic spelling of Gaia
- Gísella
- Gunna - very popular in other Nordic countries
- Haffý - pet form of Haf (sea, ocean)
- Hanný - pet form of Jóhanna
- Ílena
- Heró - Icelandic spelling of Hero
- Hild - before only Hildur and Hilda were allowed
- Hildís - Icelandic spelling of Hildis
- Hlýja - word name meaning “warmth”
- Hröfn - female form of Hrafn (raven)
- Ísvöld - new combination meaning “ice ruler”
- Ívör - female form of Ívarr or new combination name
- Jóda. - pet form of Jódís
- Jónborg
- Jonna - very popular in other Nordic countries
- Karna - Danish name, variant of Karina
- Kenya - derived from the name of the African country
- Klöpp - word name, meaning “a pier-like rock”
- Ljósbera - new combination name, meaning “light bear”
- Lóley - pet form of Þórveig
- Lucy - the English variant has finally been approved, before only Lúcía and Lúsía were allowed
- Lárentína - Icelanid spelling of Laurentina
- Marla
- Menja - Old Norse name meaning “slave”
- Moon - English word name (I was surprised they allowed this)
- Myrkey - new combination name, essentially means “dark island”
- Myríam
- Náttrós - new combination, meaning “night rose”
- Norður - Icelandic word name meaning “north”, approved as a unisex name
- Paradís - Icelandic word name meaning “paradise”
- Ragn - short form of names containing “ragn”, approved for both genders
- Rayna - spelling variant of Raina
- Salomína - Icelandic spelling of Salomina, from Salome
- Salvía - Icelandic spelling of Salvia, “whole, safe”
- Sirrey - new combination of Siri (from Sigrid) and “island”
- Stinne - variant of Stine
- Sæmey - new combination of se “sea” and mey “woman, mother”
- Snæfrost - new combination of “snow” and “frost”. Approved for both genders
- Telekía - Icelandic spelling of Telekia, a plant
- Vana - “belonging to the Vanir” (family of gods)
- Vanadís - “goddess of the Vanir” (Vanir is the second family of gods in Nordic mythology)
- Villiblóm - Icelandic word name meaning “wilfdflower”. Approved for both genders
- Vin - word name meaning “meadow”
- Viola - international spelling of the name, before one Víóla and Fjóla were allowed
- Ýda - Icelandic creative spelling of Ida. It was rejected only a few weeks earlier, but was later approved
- Þórunnborg - new combination name of three name elements, which is very rare
- Þórunnbjörg - see above
Approved names for boys
- Adil - Arabic name
- Akarn - Icelandic word name meaning “acorn”
- Alf - meaning “elf”, before only Álfur was allowed
- Arntýr - new combination of arn (eagle) and tyr (god)
- Baltazar - creative spelling of Baltasar
- Bæssam - unknown origin, possibly related to the Sami word bæssam meaning “access”
- Benni
- Birningur - younger form of Birningr, meaning “descendant of Björn”
- Bliki - Icelandic word name, “male duck”
- Búálfur - new combination of Bo “dweller” and álfur “elf”
- Buck - from the English word for male goat
- Celin - meaning unknown. This is a variant of Celine in other Scandinavian countries
- Dalur - Icelandic word name meaning “valley”
- Díbus - unknown origin
- Diddi - pet form of names beginning with di-
- Dylan - this name was rejected twice in, the last time in 2020, but was now approved
- Eldhamar - “fire hammer”
- Elias - before one Elías was allowed
- Elio - rejected before, but now it’s allowed
- Emmi - pet form of names beginning with em- (the i ending is male in Icelandic)
- Esi - Old Danish name
- Eyvin - already used in other Nordic countries
- Hafsjór - means “a huge amount of something” in Icelandic, as a name used to mean “ocean”
- Iðar - Icelandic form of Idar (male from of Ida)
- Isak - Scandinavian spelling of Iceland Ísak (Isaac)
- Issa - Arabic name
- Ivan
- Jöklar - new combination of jökul (ice, glacier) and her (army)
- Jökli - variant of Jökull (ice, glacier)
- Jósi - nickname for names starting with “Jós”
- Lauf - Iceland word name, “leaf”. Approved for both genders
- Leónardó
- Litríkur - Icelandic word name meaning “colorful”
- Lúgó - unknown origin
- Marino
- Marþór - new combination of marr (warhorse) and þór (thunder)
- Matheo & Mattheó
- Meinert - German name, younger form of Meinhard
- Miðrik - new combination of “middle” and “ruler, mighty”
- Nieljohníus - alternative spelling of Niljohnius, a combination of Nils and John
- Omel - unknown origin
- Óríon - Icelandic spelling of Orion
- Ray
- Rósmar - new combination name, also a male form of Rósmarý
- Salvadór
- Sigurhörður - new combination of sig (victory) and hörd (hard)
- Sólar - combination of sol (sun) and her (warrior), also related to the English word solar. Sólarr was already on the list of approved names
- Sólmyrkvi - word name meaning “solar eclipse”
- Sólmáni - new combination of “sun” and “moon”
- Sprettur - word name, meaning “a run, a sprint”
- Tangi - word name meaning “point of a sword or knife”, also “spit of land”
- Theadór - variant of Theodór, rejected twice before but now approved
- Týri - variant of Týr (Old Norse god whose name literally means “god”)
Very few names were rejected this year:
Rejected
Laxdal - place name meaning “salmon valley”
Alexsandra - creative spelling of Alexandra
Ísjak - from the Icelandic word ísjaki meaning “iceberg”
Senjor - Icelandic word for “senior”
Huge credit to nordicnames.de for the information on this.
So what do you think? Any names stand out? Any favorites? Something you want to share in general? Let me know 
