Information officer at the Ministry of the Interior Jóhannes Tómasson announced yesterday that the ministry does not intend to appeal the case of Blær Bjarkardóttir, who won in court against the authorities last week on having her name officially approved.

Alþingi, the Icelandic Parliament. Photo copyright Icelandic Photo Agency.

Jóhannes also stated that it is the opinion of Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson that the trial has given authorities a reason to consider reviewing the Icelandic laws on human names, ruv.is reports.

The Icelandic Naming Committee has not convened since the verdict was announced to take a position on it.

The committee’s chair, Ágústa Þorbergsdóttir, stated in an email that she finds it likely that the verdict will impact the committee’s work. She added that she is also of the view that there is reason to consider reviewing the laws on human names.

This view is supported by another of the committee’s members, lawyer Trausti Fannar Valsson, who added that the laws on human names are currently complicated to execute in certain instances.

Blær, who is now 15, was officially known as <i>stúlka<p>, or ‘girl,’ until the verdict was announced last week on the grounds that Blær is a male name and Icelandic names cannot be unisex.

Blær’s case garnered significant attention in Iceland and abroad.

Click here to read more about the case.

ESA