Icelandic Girl Wins Fight to Keep Her Given Name

A 15-year-old girl in Iceland has won the right to use the name her mother gave her, after a lengthy court battle.

Blaer Bjarkardottir will now be allowed to legally use her first name, which means "light breeze" in her native language.

Like a few other countries, Iceland enforces centuries-old  rules about how a baby can be named. The names Carol and Christina, for example, are not allowed because the letter "C" is not part of Iceland's alphabet. Names also cannot be unisex. Government authorities had objected to the name “Blaer,” saying it was too masculine.

Up until now Blaer had been identified simply as "Girl" in communications with officials.

There are 1,853 approved female names on the Icelandic Naming Committee's list. The girl’s mother said she had no idea that Blaer was not on the list when she named her daughter.

The Reykjavik District Court decision overturns the earlier rejection of the name.

Blaer says she’s very happy she can keep her name.