I don’t know about Magnus’ wife – but perhaps not. Nor is Guðni Ármannson’s wife either… 😉

In Iceland, the child takes the father’s first name, and then appends son or dóttir to it. So Magnus Magnusson is literally Magnus son of Magnus. Therefore, had Sally been Icelandic she would have been Sally Magnusdóttir but where the Magnus in her name refers to her dad’s first name not the second.

If your children were Icelandic then they would Josef Allaistairsson and Jane Allaistairdóttir.

This is why the Reykjavik phone book is listed by first name not second, and why houses have litte plaques outside the door saying who lives in the house!! 😉

I noticed in the birth announcements in our local paper the other day that a woman with the surname Popova had given her son the surname Popov.

What would Sally be if she’d been born in Iceland – Sally Magnusdottir??