A man from Grindavik in southwest Iceland has received official permission to use Grindvik as his middle name. His new name is therefore Matthias Grindvik Gudmundsson.
“I thought of this many years ago. I’ve been on sick leave and extremely bored so I decided to give this a go to kill some time. I wrote a letter to the National Registry and applied for the middle name Grindvik, it was taken before the Human Names Committee and now I have a letter from the National Registry that my name is Matthias Grindvik Gudmundsson,” he told the local Grindavikur paper.
In Iceland all human names must come from an approved list of names which conform to Icelandic grammar rules, among other criteria. It is possible to apply for other unlisted names, but they have to be passed by the Human Names Committee who will then add them to the list of approved names. Some accepted names are only permissible as middle names. It is not immediately clear whether Grindvik can now be used as a first name, but IceNews believes it is unlikely.
“Grindvik is a beautiful and rational name. Just look at Njord P. Njardvik. This is something similar. Maybe I’ll start writing books like him; I’ve got nothing else to do these days,” Matthias Grindvik says. “I am a ‘Grindvikingur’ born-and-bred, went away and came back again, born on Kirkjustigur. Dad was from here and his siblings – therefore I am a Grindvikingur and proud of this name,” he added.
