Patronym

Patronym (also patronymic) is a combination of Ancient Greek πατήρ (pater) = 'father' and ὄνομα (onoma) = 'name'.

It literally means 'named from the father'. See also Matronym.

Primary Patronyms

Primary patronyms or real patronyms were used in the Nordic countries until naming laws forbid their usage when the use of hereditary surnames became mandatory:

Denmark: 1828
Sweden: 1901
Norway: 1923

Nowadays, it is possible again to use real patronyms/matronyms, as the name laws have changed again.

In Iceland, on the other hand, primary patronyms are mandatory while secondary patronyms and other surnames are forbidden.

Primary patronyms are not hereditary and refer directly to the name of the father.

To create a Nordic patronymic name, the following suffixes are usually added to the genitive form, sometimes (often in Danish) to the nominative form of the first name of the father. Also the given name of the mother can be used (matronym) if the father is unknown or due to other personal reasons.

Language	Suffix 'son'	Suffix 'daughter'
Old Norse	-son	-dóttir
Danish	-sen	-datter
Faroese	-son	-dóttir
Finnish	-poika	-tytär
Icelandic	-son	-dóttir
Norwegian	-sen/-son/-søn	-datter/-dotter
Swedish	-son	-dotter

A new neutral suffix was introduced in Iceland in 2019. Since then, persons who are officially registered with non-binary gender are permitted to use the suffix -bur ('offspring') instead of -son or -dóttir.

Secondary Patronyms

Secondary patronyms are "frozen" primary patronyms which became hereditary.

When the use of hereditary surnames became mandatory in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, people who did not already had a surname just "froze" their primary patronym so that their children could inherit it. The female suffixes meaning 'daughter' were abandoned and only the suffixes meaning 'son' survived (with a very few exceptions).

Primary Patronyms vs. Secondary Patronyms

Example of Primary Patronyms

Siblings (one female and one male) through the generations

1. generation	2. generation	3. generation	4. generation	5. generation
Kristín Elíasdóttir
Ólafur Elíasson	Árna Ólafsdóttir
	Helgi Ólafsson	Hildur Helgadóttir
		Birgir Helgason	Anna Birgisdóttir
			Jón Birgisson	Björk Jónsdóttir
				Ketill Jónsson

Example of Secondary Patronyms