[ccmay]

Who is Bjorn, and who is the mother of his daughter?

Iceland is the last place where the old Germanic custom of dynamic patronymics is used. This woman's father is Bjorn, and he will have a different surname such as 'Eriksen' reflecting his own father's name. The Norwegians did this up until a hundred years ago, and any time you meet a person with a static patronymic such as Johnson or Williamson you can hear the echo of our own Anglo-Saxon past.

[mlocher]

Thanks. I remember this in the case of Eric the Red and Leif Ericsson. If memory serves me correctly, Eric the Red had a red beard and founded Iceland. Leif, I think, ended up in Vinland.

More to the point of the article, you said,

"you can hear the echo of our own Anglo-Saxon past."

I am concerned that what is going on in Iceland could very well be occuring to us in a handful of years.

[elcid1970]

Icelandic surnames are gender specific; the woman’s has the suffix `dottir’ (Bjoernsdottir). But if she has a brother, his surname is Bjoernssen.

Anyone know how Ms. Bjoernsdottir’s name would change if she were to marry?

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I was going to comment on the “dotter” suffix on her name. Interesting they still use patronymics. It makes genealogy a pain.