Iceland – Heaven for Genealogists

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Iceland has almost everyone’s family tree in a database accessible for all the country’s approximately 335,000 citizens. Everyone is related and “there is even an Android app to show each Icelandic citizen his or her genealogy, in most cases back to 874 AD.”[1] Many people in Iceland are hobby genealogists. When my guide on a tour of Iceland in 2017 discovered my interest in genealogy, she proudly told me that her grandfather had traced their family’s ancestry to a King of Norway. That would not be unusual because Iceland was settled mostly by Norwegians who may have been seeking new land to farm. 

A favorite question when meeting someone new is “Who are your people”? Since almost everyone is related it is common before dating someone new to check to see that you two are not too closely related. The fact that almost everyone is descended from just a few couples has also made Iceland a heaven for those studying genetic diseases. Additionally, the homogeneity of the population has proven valuable for drug research. Approximately 62 per cent of the maternal gene pool is derived from Ireland and Scotland. According to Icelandic sagas, the Irish and Scottish Gaels were either slaves or servants of the Norse chiefs.[2]

Icelanders trace their genealogy through the database Ìslendingabók which contains information about the inhabitants of Iceland, dating more than 1200 years back. The database is in Icelandic and access is limited to citizens and legal residents of Iceland.[3] Iceland began taking censuses in 1703 and they are available online. In addition to the censuses, a great many other records were used to compile the database.

Most immigrants from Iceland to North America went to Canada unlike those from other European countries who came to the United States. Manitoba, British Columbia and Alberta have the largest populations of citizens of Icelandic descent. Those who came to the United States settled primarily in the northwestern states especially Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakota Territories. However, Washington State has the second highest population of Icelandic Americans in the United States.

Trivia: President Donald Trump is related to Iceland’s current president, Guöni Jóhannesson. “ Jóhannesson and Trump Share a common ancestor 25 generations back: King Hakon V, a Viking that ruled Norway, Iceland, and parts of Greenland from 1299 – 1319.”[4]
Barbara Mattoon 

[1] Dick Eastman, Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter (https://blog.eogn.com accessed 6 Aug 2018), “Iceland’s Entire Family Tree is Online.”
[2] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org), “Icelanders,”rev. 08.08.2018.
[3] https>//www.islendingabok.is. Accessed 8 Aug 2018.
[4] Sarah Sloat,’ (https://www.inverse.com/article/26900 accessed 28 Aug 2018)” Icelandic Genealogist:  Trump Is Related to ‘Gottskálk the Cruel” 

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