Decoding Icelandic Nicknames, from Iceland Review:
Have you ever wondered why all these Siggis, Nonnis, Gunnis and Gummis are
never called by their full names? Or why someone with as beautiful a name as
Berglind ("Mountain Spring") or Bergdís ("Mountain Goddess") would choose to
go by the name of Begga?
In many countries nicknames have been converted to actual given names, like
in Denmark where no one really knows what Jytte, Jette, Gitte and Ditte
originally meant, or in the US where Tom, Dick and Harry has become the norm
rather than Thomas, Richard and Harold.
In Iceland most nicknames are forbidden as given names, yet almost everyone
has a nickname. Some parents even announce in the baptism parties of their
children that they should not be called by the name they were just given,
but rather by their nickname. There is hardly an Icelandic name that cannot
be converted to a default nickname; I listed some of the most popular in the
first paragraph.
Men who are called Siggi were usually named Sigurdur ("Victorious"), but any
other name which begins with Sig- is a possibility. Those who answer to the
name of Gunni are most likely called Gunnar ("Warrior"), while Gummi is the
short for Gudmundur ("Hand of God"). Funnily enough, Nonni is not a short
version of a name, but the nickname for Jón (the Icelandic name for John).
It seems reasonable to shorten long and complicated names, but for a long
time I couldn't understand why Jóns would need a nickname. My friend came up
with the theory that Jón was too short for shouting and scolding since it
only has one syllable, while Nonni serves that purpose perfectly.
While most Icelandic nicknames are shortened versions of the full name,
other nicknames have nothing to do with the actual name of a person, like
Didda, Syssa, Brói, Dúddi, Lilla, Lilli and Dúlla, which can be the short
for any name. I can think of two reasons for such nicknames.
One is that parents of the newborn did not want to reveal the name of their
baby until the baptism (which sometimes takes place as late as six months
after the birth, during which time the name is a secret and the baby remains
nameless) and had to call it something else in the meantime. Lilla (f) and
Lilli (m) ("Junior") are popular cover-ups, as is Dúlla (f) ("Cutie") and
Dúddi (m) ("Dude"), and sometimes these names just stick.
The other reason is that young children often find it difficult to pronounce
the names of their brothers and sisters and thus use Didda (f) and Syssa (f)
(short for "Sister") or Brói (m) (short for "Brother").
If the names my brothers called me when they were young would have stuck I
would either go by the name of Gúgga or Gagú, which doesn't mean anything,
but is a distortion of Eygló ("Glowing Island," or even "The Sun Above
Iceland"). The older of the two does however sometimes still call me Gúgga
on special occasions.
I have always been against having a nickname of my own, although there have
been attempts to call me by the default Glóa, or Gling-Gló or Gló-Gló for
fun. At one time my friends gave me the name Glói, which would be the male
version of my name.
Others are equally opposed to nicknames, like a girl I met the other day,
whose name is Sóley ("Buttercup," but directly translates as "Sunny Isle").
She told me that people were always trying to call her Solla, which is the
default nickname for any female name that begins with Sól-, mostly Sólveig
("Sunny Gold"), and she absolutely hates it. She points out to them that
there are five letters in both Sóley and Solla, so the nickname doesn't make
much sense, but, apparently Solla is easier to say when one is in a hurry.
So that you can better prepare yourself for your next trip to Iceland or so
that the names of your colleagues in your Iceland office make more sense to
you, here are a few more common nicknames and how they most likely look in
their decoded form (some of these nicknames can also be given names,
though):
Addi (m) - Arnar (or any other male name that begins with Arn-)
Alli (m) - Albert, Adalsteinn (or any other male name that begins with Al-
or Adal-)
Benni (m) - Benedikt
Beta (f) - Elísabet
Binni (m) - Brynjar, Brynjólfur
Bjögga (f) - Björg (or any other female name that ends with -björg)
Bogga (f) - Borghildur, Sigurborg (or any other female name that begins or
ends with Borg-)
Dísa (f) - Dís, Bryndís (or any other female name that ends with -dís)
Ella (f) - Elín (or any other female name that begins with Elí-)
Elli (m) - Erlingur, Elías
Frída (f) - Hallfrídur (or any other female name that ends with -frídur)
Gunna (f) - Gudrún (or any other female name that begins with Gud- or Gunn-)
Gulla (f) - Gudlaug
Gulli (m) - Gunnlaugur, Gudlaugur
Halla (f) - Hallfrídur, Hallgerdur
Halli (m) - Haraldur, Hallgrímur
Hanna (f) - Jóhanna
Heida (f) - Ragnheidur (or any other female name that begins or ends
with -heid)
Jói (m) - Jóhann, Jóhannes
Kata (f) - Katrín
Krissi, Kiddi (m) - Kristján, Kristinn
Lauga (f) - Áslaug (or any female name that ends with -laug)
Lísa (f) - Elísabet
Magga (f) - Margrét
Maggi (m) - Magnús
Maeja, Maja (f) - María
Olla (f) - Ólöf
Óli (m) - Ólafur
Palli (f) - Páll
Ragga (f) - Ragnheidur
Raggi (m) - Ragnar
Rósa (f) - Sigurrós (or any female name that begins or ends with Rós)
Sibba (f) - Sigurbjörg
Sigga (f) - Sigrídur
Steini (m) - Steingrímur (or any other male name that begins or ends with
Stein)
Stína (f) - Kristín
Stjáni (m) - Kristján
Tóta (f) - Thórgunnur (or any other female name that begins with Thór-)
Tóti (m) - Thórdur, Thórarinn (or any other male name that begins with
Thór-)
Villi (m) - Vilhjálmur
____________________________________
Judy
http://iceryder.net
http://clickryder.com
