A mother and father in Iceland are facing daily fines after the country’s authorities rejected their application to name their daughter Alex.
All names in Iceland must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Authority, and mother Nanna Thordis Arnadottir explained that when she registered her daughter’s name as Alex Emma after giving birth to her in August 2013, she was told by Registers Iceland that the name had never before been used as a girl’s name in the North Atlantic country.
The committee rejected the name request a few months later on the grounds that “Alex” had neither been used historically or traditionally as a girl’s name in Iceland before, therefore, it was not suitable now; however, it was also noted that the name did not violate the country’s language structure.
Icelandic has strict rules regarding names, which must not break grammar or pronunciation rules as well as contain some kind of tradition in the country. The parents have now been told by Registers Iceland that they must pay fines of 1.4737 Icelandic krona per day until their daughter’s name is approved.
A similar situation happened in January 2013 when 15-year-old Blaer won her court case against the authorities to make her name official. Arnadottir has said she has spoken to Blaer’s mother and would not accept the committee’s decision.