CRC writes:

Well, now you know -- 'Gudrun' is a woman's name. :-)

Yah. Thanks. (-:

That's weird, IMO: The matronymyc isn't all that unusual, as I understand it (just less usual than the patronymic); I gather it's fairly widely used in precisely those circumstances. And it's not as if the Icelanders were a particularly religious, or otherwise opposed to single-motherhood, people. The practice is fairly old (as in, centuries), AFAIK.

All I remember was that she effectively said her daughter would have a matronymic name, and that commentators familiar with aspect of Icelandic life thought it unusual. I don't know why; I was only theorising (e.g. maybe she was still married at the time). Much of my knowledge about Icelandic names comes from - of all places - a Hardy Boys' novel set in Iceland. They had to look someone up in the phone book at one point and found it most confusing until a native explained it all to them (and the readers). It was more recent, though, that I found out about the -dottir suffix.

*shrug*

Wade.