Style in Numbers, Names, and Abbreviations

Two pieces of Icelandic can be flawless in grammar and spelling and still read as foreign because of style choices around numbers, names, and abbreviations. Do you write the number as a word or a figure? How do you refer to a person on second mention — and how would a bibliography sort them? Which little abbreviation do you reach for where English writes "e.g." or "etc."? These conventions are rarely taught explicitly, yet they are exactly what an editor would change in a learner's text. This page covers the stylistic side; the mechanics of forming numbers and the basics of punctuation live on their own pages, so here we focus on the choices a writer makes.

Spelling numbers out vs. using figures

The general convention, shared with careful English and continental practice, is that small whole numbers in running prose are spelled out, while larger numbers, precise measurements, dates, prices, statistics, and anything technical are written in figures. So you write þrír hundar ("three dogs"), not 3 hundar, in ordinary prose, but 17 km, 3,5 milljónir, and árið 2026 in figures. A common house-style threshold is to spell out the numbers from one to ten (or up to twelve) and use figures above that — and crucially the low numbers one to four inflect for gender and case in Icelandic (einn/ein/eitt, tveir/tvær/tvö), which is one more reason to write them as words so the agreement is visible.

Don't start a sentence with a figure — recast it or spell the number out: Tuttugu manns komu ("Twenty people came"), not 20 manns komu at the head of a sentence.

Names: Icelanders go by their FIRST name

This is the convention that surprises English speakers most, and getting it wrong instantly marks a text as foreign. An Icelandic "surname" in -son ("son of") or -dóttir ("daughter of") is a patronymic, not a family name: Guðrún Jónsdóttir is "Guðrún, daughter of Jón," and her brother is Ólafur Jónsson, "Ólafur, son of Jón." It is not a shared family surname passed down — each generation's patronymic is rebuilt from the father's (or sometimes mother's) first name. Two consequences follow, and both are stylistic rules you must apply:

1. Icelanders are referred to by first name on second mention. Where an English text first writes "Halldór Laxness" and then "Laxness," an Icelandic text writes Halldór. You refer to the author Halldór Laxness, the president, a colleague, even a government minister, by first name after the first full mention — not by the patronymic. (Laxness happens to be an adopted name, not a patronymic, which makes it a perfect illustration: even so, Icelanders call him Halldór.)

2. Alphabetical lists sort by first name. The telephone directory, a class roll, the index of a book, and an academic bibliography all alphabetise Icelanders by their given name, then by the patronymic only to break ties. Guðrún Jónsdóttir files under G, not under J. This is not a quirk to mention in passing — it is the working rule for any list you build, and sorting Icelanders by their "-son/-dóttir" as if it were a surname is a real error.

Titles: used sparingly

Icelandic prose uses honorific and academic titles far more sparingly than, say, German. You will see dr. (doctor) and prófessor before a name in formal academic or official contexts, but everyday journalism and prose tend to drop them and simply use the person's name — and then refer back, as above, by first name. There is no pervasive "Mr./Ms." equivalent peppering ordinary text; herra ("Mr.") and frú ("Mrs.") exist but are formal and increasingly rare. The default register is to name the person and move on.

The standard abbreviations

This is the most practical section. Icelandic has its own set of everyday abbreviations, with periods, and using the English ones (e.g., i.e., etc.) is a dead giveaway of a non-native text. Learn these — they appear constantly in formal and journalistic writing:

A few usage notes. t.d. is the workhorse "e.g.," and t.a.m. ("til að mynda") is its slightly more formal twin. þ.e. ("that is") introduces a restatement or clarification, exactly like English "i.e." o.s.frv. closes an open-ended list ("etc."), and m.a. ("among other things") flags that a list is partial. Watch the form of o.s.frv. in particular — the frv. part trips learners up.

These abbreviations belong to (formal) and (academic) writing and ordinary journalism; in very casual texting people often just write the words out or use ad-hoc shortenings. But in any prose with a register above a text message, the t.d. / þ.e. / o.s.frv. set is standard, and the English equivalents look out of place.

How this differs from English

The contrasts are systematic. English second-mention uses the surname (Laxness); Icelandic uses the first name (Halldór). English bibliographies alphabetise by surname; Icelandic ones by first name. English writes e.g., i.e., etc.; Icelandic writes t.d., þ.e., o.s.frv. And English peppers prose with Mr./Ms./Dr.; Icelandic uses titles sparingly and otherwise just names the person. The number-spelling rule is the one place the two languages broadly agree — small numbers as words, large and precise ones as figures — though Icelandic adds the wrinkle that low numbers inflect, giving you an extra reason to spell them out.

Common Mistakes

Using the English abbreviations is the most visible non-native tell. Swap in t.d., þ.e., o.s.frv., m.a.

The patronymic (or any second element) is not a surname to fall back on. Refer back with the first name.

Phone books, indexes, and bibliographies all sort Icelanders by given name. Filing them by the "-dóttir/-son" is the alphabetisation error.

The Icelandic abbreviations carry periods: kl., nr., bls., t.d. Dropping them, or mixing in English forms, breaks the convention.

Key Takeaways

• Spell small whole numbers out in prose (þrír, fjórir), use figures for measurements, money, dates, and large/precise numbers; low numbers inflect, an extra reason to write them as words. Don't open a sentence with a figure.
• -son / -dóttir is a patronymic, not a surname. Refer to Icelanders by first name on second mention (Halldór, not Laxness).
• Alphabetise Icelanders by first name — phone books, indexes, and bibliographies all sort by the given name.
• Titles (dr., prófessor) are used sparingly; there's no pervasive Mr./Ms. equivalent.
• Use the Icelandic abbreviations, with periods: t.d. (e.g.), þ.e. (i.e.), o.s.frv. (etc.), m.a. (among other things), kl. (o'clock), nr. (no.), bls. (p.) — never the English e.g./i.e./etc.