Originally Posted by spazlabz

I understand your logic quite well. I have met children with unfortunate names in the past whose parents seemed delighted to have cursed their kid to greasing a brass pole into her 30s and then marrying a dude in a broken down trailer BUT

the issue is personal freedom. If a government is allowed to intrude that far into a person's individual choices then how far is too far? The stated purpose of this law appears to be "names that fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules and that officials maintain will protect children from embarrassment" which will, almost by definition, limit any kind of diversity in their culture which will also limit their growth. I have a couple of questions about this law.

Does it apply to all births in Iceland, even non-residents?
Does it apply to Icelandic citizens of differing ethnic origins? For example if a Japanese couple moves to Iceland are they required by law to ignore their own culture and give their child one of the approved names to fit in with Icelandic grammar and pronunciation?

this law may have been perfectly acceptable in the past but the world is much smaller now and laws like this need to be gotten rid of