Icelandic names differ from most current
Western family name systems by being
patronymic (occasionally
matronymic): they reflect the father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage.
Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the
Scandinavian countries of
Norway,
Sweden and
Denmark with its crown dependency, the
Faroe Islands. Icelanders, however, unlike other Scandinavians, have continued to use their traditional name system, which was formerly used by all Nordic nations. The Icelandic system is thus not based on
family names (although some people do have family names and might use both systems). Generally, a person's last name indicates the
first name of his/her father (patronymic) or in some cases mother (matronymic).