Mellomnavn i Norge og Danmark, oppfølging av artikkel i NN 35 (2018)

Abstract

The article «Mellemnavnet i Danmark og Norge» (‘The middlename in Denmark and Norway’) by Lars-Jakob Harding Kællerødin Namn og Nemne vol. 35 contains incorrect information aboutmiddle names in the Norwegian Acts of Personal Names. Kællerødwrites that middle names were not regulated in the Act of PersonalNames of 1923, that they were first regulated in the 1964 Act, andthat middle names are personal in the 2002 Act, meaning that mid-dle names cannot be transferred from former generations in thefamily or be transferred to children and spouses. The Norwegianrules are in many ways the opposite of what Kællerød writes. TheAct of Personal Names of 1923 had strict regulations for the useof middle names, and the usage was liberalized by the 1964 Act.By the 2002 Act, middle names can be transferred quite freelywithin the family. In the 2002 Act, only primary patronymics andmetronymics are personal according to the main rules and cannotbe transferred to other persons. The present article lays out therules for middle names in Norway in the 20th and 21th century,with brief outlooks on the rules for middle names in Denmark, andreviews Kællerød’s account in this context