Foreign in the Icelandic name law debate

Abstract

<p>Discussion of name law in Iceland often compares the name rights of foreigners</p><p>and those of Icelanders, both contrasting Icelandic laws with</p><p>those of other countries and considering the name rights of immigrants</p><p>to Iceland and of Icelanders living abroad. The policy which, from 1952</p><p>until 1996, required foreign-born persons seeking Icelandic citizenship to</p><p>have Icelandic names stemmed from a puristic tradition based in the nationalistic</p><p>movement of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as reflecting</p><p>the assimilationist policies toward ethnic others that were widespread in</p><p>Europe in the mid-20th century. The elimination of the name change requirement</p><p>was framed as a matter of human rights and connected with a</p><p>general shift toward pluralism and multiculturalism. However, inasmuch</p><p>as the revised name law granted .special. name rights to naturalized citizens</p><p>and the children of foreign-born parents, it created a new inequality.</p><p>This was connected in the popular discourse to the existing inequalities in</p><p>name law concerning fixed surnames. Fixed surnames were regarded at</p><p>the start of the the 20th century as .un-Icelandic. .parasitic culture.</p><p>and a threat to the traditional patronymic system. The name law of 1925</p><p>banned new surnames but .grandfathered. in existing fixed surnames, a</p><p>problematic decision which has led to much subsequent dissatisfaction.</p><p>Several attempts to amend the name law between 1955 and 1971 failed in</p><p>part because the issue of surnames was so controversial. Those who object</p><p>to the current name law regard immigrants' rights to keep their original</p><p>surnames and to have names that do not fulfill the general criteria of the</p><p>Icelandic name law as a form of reverse discrimination. The law is very</p><p>unpopular and the current situation unstable. Most likely the law will be</p><p>

</p><p>liberalized radically in the coming years.</p>