Iceland — home to under 330,000 people — is a relatively small country . Andabout two - thirdsof Icelanders endure in or near Reykjavík , the country ’s capital . With a low universe clustered together in a relatively little space , you could see how it would be easy to be distantly related to someone without gain it . It ’s such a problem , in fact , that there ’s a fluid app calledÍslendinga - Appthat avail Icelanders determine if their potential romanticistic interest is actually a little - known cousin or long - lost aunt .
To foreclose any accidental hereditary hookups , a company call Sad Engineers Studios created the app using information from an online genealogical database . The collection dates back more than a thousand years and contains extensive data for more than 720,000 Icelanders . Typing in a name will do the conjuring trick , but Icelanders who are face - to - face can simply chance phones for results ( if they both have the app , that is ) . Sad Engineerscallsthis feature article " Sifjaspellsspillir , " or " Incest Spoiler . " As the slogansays , “ break the app before you bump in bed . ”
If you ’re thinking it can really bethatbig of a problem , plainly it is . “ Everyone has heard the story of going to a family event and running into a girl you hooked up with some time ago , " Icelander Einar MagnussontoldUSA Today .
In addition to the modest population issue , there ’s also Iceland ’s uniquenaming convention : Instead of adopting their mother ’s or father ’s surname , child often add their parent ’ first names . Take one of Iceland ’s most famed export , Björk . Her full name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir , with “ dóttir ” meaning “ daughter . ” So she is Björk , girl of Guðmundur . And to make it more confusing , children can adopt the first names ofboth parent . The former mayor of Reykjavík , Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson , is Dagur , boy of Bergþóra , Word of Eggert .
So while a distinctive last name could be your carry through grace in the U.S.—“Wait , you ’re a Jingleheimer - Schmidt ? So am I ! Of the Boston Jingleheimer - Schmidts?”—the Icelandic naming convention prevents families from having shared last public figure .
Avoiding an unenviable assemblage is a big perk , but that ’s not all the app does . Italsolists popular names , cull interesting statistic , and provide a calendar of relatives ’ birthdays .
