Icelandic names are names used by people from Iceland. Icelandic surnames are different from most other naming systems in the modern Western world in that they are patronymic or occasionally matronymic: they indicate the father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage. Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the Nordic countries of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Unlike other Nordics, Icelanders have continued to use their traditional name system, which was formerly used by all Nordic countries. The Icelandic system is thus not based on family names (although some people do have family names and might use both systems). Generally, with few exceptions, a person's last name indicates the first name of their father (patronymic) or in some cases mother (matronymic) in the genitive, followed by -son ("son") or -dóttir ("daughter").
Some family names do exist in Iceland, most commonly adaptations from last names Icelanders took up when living abroad, usually in Denmark....