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Personal names

Many Icelandic 👶🏻 personal names follow different declension patterns than normal nouns. Although they might appear to be irregular, there are several common paradigms that most names fit into.

That said, sometimes there is more than one inflection paradigm for the same name and it can be a matter of personal taste for the name-haver as to which one they prefer.

Male names​

On the whole, male Icelandic names follow the general rules for the inflection of masculine nouns. Let’s look at some common patterns.

Nom.ÓlafurHaukurHaraldurÞórðurGuðmundurSigurður
Acc.ÓlafHaukHaraldÞórðGuðmundSigurð
Dat.ÓlafiHaukiHaraldiÞórðiGuðmundiSigurði
Gen.ÓlafsHauksHaraldsÞórðarGuðmundarSigurðar

Some notes about the above inflections for male names:

  • Names ending in removable -ur always get -i in the dative (some also get I-shift). The genitive ending is normally -s, but for names ending in -ður or -dur the -ar ending is more common in the genitive (except in patronyms);
  • Some names ending in -ll get syncope in the dative, e.g. Jökull → Jökli. Some also get I-shift, e.g. Egill → Agli and Ketill → Katli;
  • Names ending in -inn get syncope in the dative, e.g. Óðinn → Óðni;
  • Names with no removable ending, like Jón and Aron, in general get -i in the dative, however there are many that don’t. These are normally two-syllable names of foreign origin, but there isn’t much consistency;
  • Names whose stem ends in -us or -ús get -ar in the genitive.

Exceptions​

Stem-based -ur​

There are two male names with stem-based -ur that behave like masculine nouns of the same paradigm:

Nom.BaldurPétur
Acc.
Dat.BaldriPétri
Gen.BaldursPéturs

Both these names get syncope in the dative.

-rn​

There is a small group of male names whose stem ends in -rn that get an I-shift somewhat irregularly:

Nom.BjörnSveinbjörnÖrn
Acc.
Dat.BirniSveinbirniErni
Gen.Björns/
Bjarnar		Sveinbjörns/
Sveinbjarnar		Arnar

Patronyms​

In patronyms, there is a tendency to use the genitive -s instead of the expected -ar, although both versions normally exist:

Father’s nameMale patronymFemale patronym
GuðmundurGuðmundsson/
Guðmundarson		Guðmundsdóttir/
Guðmundardóttir
SigurðurSigurðsson/
Sigurðarson		Sigurðardóttir
BjörnBjörnsson/
Bjarnarson		Björnsdóttir/
Bjarnardóttir

Female names​

Most female Icelandic names decline according to 2 distinct paradigms that are no longer found in feminine nouns except in fixed phrases. However, there is less irregularity than in the male paradigms.

Strong nouns​

As you may remember from the section on noun gender, strong feminine nouns are not united by a single ending. They tend to end in a consonant or an accented vowel like á or ý. This is also true of female names.

There are two main inflection paradigms for strong female names, based on the endings they receive in the accusative and dative. All strong female names get the expected -ar ending in the genitive.

-u paradigm​

The majority of strong female names get -u in the accusative and dative:

Nom.BjörgIngibjörgGuðbjörgSigurbjörgÞorbjörgDagbjört
Acc.BjörguIngibjörguGuðbjörguSigurbjörguÞorbjörguDagbjörtu
Dat.
Gen.BjargarIngibjargarGuðbjargarSigurbjargarÞorbjargarDagbjartar

Some notes about the above inflections:

  • Names with an ö as their final vowel get a reverse U-shift in the genitive;
  • Names ending in -ey/ný get a j before the inflectional ending;
  • The names Guðrún and Sólrún can also be inflected according to the -i paradigm below, but this is rare.

-i paradigm​

Female names with the following stem-based endings in the nominative get -i in the accusative and dative:

Nom.HildurAuðurUnnurSigríðurRagnheiðurValgerður
Acc.HildiAuðiUnniSigríðiRagnheiðiValgerði
Dat.
Gen.HildarAuðarUnnarSigríðarRagnheiðarValgerðar

Regular paradigm​

There are a fair number of female names that follow the regular strong noun paradigm for feminine nouns, with no -i or -u in the accusative or dative:

Nom.EyglóEsterSifBjörkHrönnSjöfn
Acc.
Dat.
Gen.EyglóarEsterarSifjarBjarkarHrannarSjafnar

Weak nouns​

Female names that end in -a fit into the category of weak feminine nouns. Unlike the strong nouns, they have a fully regular inflection. This includes the potential for U-shift:

Nom.HelgaÁstaErlaMaríaAnnaJóhanna
Acc.HelguÁstuErluMaríuÖnnuJóhönnu
Dat.
Gen.