Recliner wrote:
NY wrote:
"Sam Wilson" wrote in message
...
NY wrote:
In Icelandic, do *both* the sons and the daughters take the father's
first
name? I have vague memories of being told that daughter's sometimes take
the
mother's first name - so Magnus and Oddny (*) might have a son with a
surname Magnusson and a daughter with a surname Oddnydottir (rather than
Magnusdottir).


Search for “iceland� he
https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names

Shame it doesn't say in what circumstances the daughter's surname is based
on her mother's rather than father's first name. I wonder if there's a
convention or just "whichever sounds better".

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia:

The vast majority of Icelandic last names carry the name of the father, but
occasionally the mother's name is used: e.g. if the child or mother wishes
to end social ties with the father. Some women use it as a social statement
while others simply choose it as a matter of style.

In all of these cases, the convention is the same: Ólafur, the son of
BryndÃ*s, will have the full name of Ólafur BryndÃ*sarson ("the son of
BryndÃ*s"). Some well-known Icelanders with matronymic names are the
football player Heiðar Helguson ("Helga's son"), the novelist Guðrún Eva
MÃ*nervudóttir ("Minerva's daughter"), and the medieval poet EilÃ*fr
Goðrúnarson ("Goðrún's son").

In the Icelandic film Bjarnfreðarson the title character's name is the
subject of some mockery for his having a woman's name – as Bjarnfreður's
son – not his father's. In the film this is connected to the mother's
radical feminism and shame over his paternity, which form part of the
film's plot.[9] Some people have both a matronymic and a patronymic: for
example, Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson ("the son of Bergþóra and Eggert"),
the mayor of ReykjavÃ*k since 2014. Another example is the girl Blær
mentioned above: her full name is Blær Bjarkardóttir Rúnarsdóttir ("the
daughter of Björk and Rúnar").

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name#Matronymic_naming_as_a_choice



The other thing I’ve noticed about the use of Icelandic names is that
everyone addresses each other with their first name. So no referring to
your boss as Mr Blogs, he’s just Fred.

In message , at
21:24:24 on Tue, 5 Jan 2021, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
On 05/01/2021 18:17, Sam Wilson wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 16:22:35 on Tue, 5 Jan 2021,
Tweed remarked:

It's just a cultural thing, like many Europeans have names like Magnus
Magnus*son*, and innumerable similar Slavic suffices.

Slavic? I thought it came from the Icelandic. There surnames come from the
first name of the parent.

Yes, hence the use of the word "similar" (not "identical")
I’ve recently found this fascinating and instructive:
https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names

The Afghan politican Abdullah Abdullah allegedly only had one name
originally, but he got so fed up with people from elsehwere asking for
his other name that he decided it was easiest to double it so he had one.

I knew an African who employed the same workaround.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 01:39:00 on Wed, 6 Jan 2021,
Certes remarked:
On 05/01/2021 22:28, Sam Wilson wrote:
Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 05/01/2021 15:00, Sam Wilson wrote:
NY wrote:

Why *do* Americans insist on using their middle initials/names on official
documentation? Does "John H Smith" sound more impressive than
"John Smith"?

Apparently it does. Harry S Truman was given his middle initial in order
to suggest a middle name that he didn’t actually have.


Leading to this endless debate, which helps to keep Wikipedia editors
and such like from wandering the streets:

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/educat...riod-after-s-t
ruman-name

:-)
Sam

Perhaps both are correct. The full name is Harry S Truman. Like all
names, the middle one can be abbreviated to its initial plus a dot:
Harry S. Truman.

A colleague back in the day, who didn't have a middle name, filled in an
order form for business cards, and duly got back a few boxes of:

Fred N.A. Blogs
--
Roland Perry

Certes wrote:
On 05/01/2021 22:28, Sam Wilson wrote:
Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 05/01/2021 15:00, Sam Wilson wrote:
NY wrote:

Why *do* Americans insist on using their middle initials/names on official
documentation? Does "John H Smith" sound more impressive than "John Smith"?

Apparently it does. Harry S Truman was given his middle initial in order
to suggest a middle name that he didn’t actually have.


Leading to this endless debate, which helps to keep Wikipedia editors
and such like from wandering the streets:
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/educat...-s-truman-name

:-)

Sam

Perhaps both are correct. The full name is Harry S Truman. Like all
names, the middle one can be abbreviated to its initial plus a dot:
Harry S. Truman.

Abbreviated. Right.

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as
Spit the dummy to reply

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 01:39:00 on Wed, 6 Jan 2021,
Certes remarked:
On 05/01/2021 22:28, Sam Wilson wrote:
Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 05/01/2021 15:00, Sam Wilson wrote:
NY wrote:

Why *do* Americans insist on using their middle initials/names on official
documentation? Does "John H Smith" sound more impressive than
"John Smith"?

Apparently it does. Harry S Truman was given his middle initial in order
to suggest a middle name that he didn’t actually have.


Leading to this endless debate, which helps to keep Wikipedia editors
and such like from wandering the streets:

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/educat...riod-after-s-t
ruman-name

:-)
Sam

Perhaps both are correct. The full name is Harry S Truman. Like all
names, the middle one can be abbreviated to its initial plus a dot:
Harry S. Truman.

A colleague back in the day, who didn't have a middle name, filled in an
order form for business cards, and duly got back a few boxes of:

Fred N.A. Blogs

:-)

On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but they
were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name got an “x�
inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked odd when you first
saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name was Xavier...�

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as
Spit the dummy to reply

In message , at 21:23:19 on Tue, 5 Jan 2021,
NY remarked:
"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
Indeed, I don't think anyone stopped calling Thameslink,
"Thameslink", even when it was operated by FCC.

I remember arriving at St Pancras, maybe on foot or maybe by a tube
line, looking for the "new" (as it was then)

The station opened in 2007...

Thameslink station, following the closure of old KX Midland City
station on Pentonville Road. And I couldn't find it anywhere. All the
other lines were clearly marked on overhead signs, but there were no
signs to Thameslink. Eventually I though I'd try the "Govia" line

....and Govia didn't take over the franchise until 2014.

- and found that this was what the Thameslink part of the station was
now called. Bloody stupid to rename it after the old name was so well
known and established. It's like all the renamings of football stadiums
to include the name of the latest sponsor.

But I agree that the different parts of the station should really be
named to represent stability (eg Thameslink/HS1/E*/MML) rather than the
name of the franchise operating it this week.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 09:31:21 on Wed, 6 Jan 2021,
Sam Wilson remarked:

On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but they
were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name got an “x�
inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked odd when you first
saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name was Xavier...�

There's still some cachet in having an ongoing login with "1" as a
suffix in Cambridge. Maybe other places too.
--
Roland Perry

"Sam Wilson" wrote in message
...
A colleague back in the day, who didn't have a middle name, filled in an
order form for business cards, and duly got back a few boxes of:

Fred N.A. Blogs

:-)

On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but
they
were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name got an “x�
inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked odd when you
first
saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name was Xavier...�

It's an interesting difference between UK and US: here in the UK middle
names and initials are rarely used - almost never in the printed name below
a handwritten signature or in the salutation ("Dear ...") on a letter. And
very rarely in official lists (examination results etc). And not on signs on
office doors. In the US, a middle initial seems to be mandatory.

The only time I've seen middle initials used at work is on circulation lists
for documents (in the days when the same copy of a document was passed from
person to person and then to the archive) when initials (all of them) are
used: each recipient crosses off their initials before sending to the next
person on the list. I worked in a department where three out of the eight
people used their middle name or a variant of their name, and it got
confusing:

MEL was "Betty Long"
BML was "Maureen Lee"

(people always got those two the wrong way round)

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 21:23:19 on Tue, 5 Jan 2021,
NY remarked:
"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
Indeed, I don't think anyone stopped calling Thameslink,
"Thameslink", even when it was operated by FCC.

I remember arriving at St Pancras, maybe on foot or maybe by a tube
line, looking for the "new" (as it was then)

The station opened in 2007...

Thameslink station, following the closure of old KX Midland City
station on Pentonville Road. And I couldn't find it anywhere. All the
other lines were clearly marked on overhead signs, but there were no
signs to Thameslink. Eventually I though I'd try the "Govia" line

...and Govia didn't take over the franchise until 2014.

Yes, it was First, in the guise of FCC, that tried to expunge Thameslink.
GTR promptly returned to Thameslink branding, including on the SPILL
station.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/recliner/17087374661/in/album-72157651787464546/



- and found that this was what the Thameslink part of the station was
now called. Bloody stupid to rename it after the old name was so well
known and established. It's like all the renamings of football stadiums
to include the name of the latest sponsor.

But I agree that the different parts of the station should really be
named to represent stability (eg Thameslink/HS1/E*/MML) rather than the
name of the franchise operating it this week.

Though that might confuse people who have EMR or Southeastern tickets. They
may not know what 'MML' or HS1' means.

In message , at 10:15:13 on Wed, 6 Jan 2021,
NY remarked:
"Sam Wilson" wrote in message
...
A colleague back in the day, who didn't have a middle name, filled in an
order form for business cards, and duly got back a few boxes of:

Fred N.A. Blogs

:-)

On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials
but they
were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name got an “x�
inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked odd when
you first
saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name was Xavier...�

It's an interesting difference between UK and US: here in the UK middle
names and initials are rarely used - almost never in the printed name
below a handwritten signature or in the salutation ("Dear ...") on a
letter. And very rarely in official lists (examination results etc).
And not on signs on office doors. In the US, a middle initial seems to
be mandatory.

But in the UK very often used in a nickname; DNA - Douglas Adams, for
example. Or his one-time classmate who wrote the worst poetry: PNMG.
--
Roland Perry