nafn

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse nafn, from Proto-Germanic *namô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /napn/

  Rhymes: -apn

Noun

nafn n (genitive singular nafns, nominative plural nöfn)

1. a name

Declension

Declension of nafn (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	nafn	nafnið	nöfn	nöfnin
accusative	nafn	nafnið	nöfn	nöfnin
dative	nafni	nafninu	nöfnum	nöfnunum
genitive	nafns	nafnsins	nafna	nafnanna

Derived terms

• að nafni
• eftirnafn
• eiginnafn
• fornafn
• gælunafn
• í nafni
• nafnbót
• skírnarnafn
• ættarnafn

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• naβn — Old East Norse
• namn

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *namô (“name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”). Cognate with Old English nama, noma, Old Frisian noma, Old Saxon namo, Old Dutch namo, Old High German namo, Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namō).

Noun

nafn n (genitive nafns, plural nǫfn)

1. name, title

   konungs nafn

   the title of king

   (literally, “king’s name”)

Declension

Declension of nafn (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	nafn	nafnit	nǫfn	nǫfnin
accusative	nafn	nafnit	nǫfn	nǫfnin
dative	nafni	nafninu	nǫfnum	nǫfnunum
genitive	nafns	nafnsins	nafna	nafnanna

Related terms

• nefna (“to name”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: nafn
• Faroese: navn
• Norn: namn
• Norwegian Nynorsk: nabn, namn
• Old Swedish: nampn
  • Swedish: namn
• Old Danish: nafn, nauæn
  • Danish: navn
    • Norwegian Bokmål: navn
• Gutnish: namn

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “nafn”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive