Confusing?

Iceland is a rather unique place and not just because of the museum I mentioned earlier in the month. Icelandic names are patronymic,or matronymic reflecting the first name of the father or mother of the child,not a family last name. For example if your father's first name was Jon your last name would be Jonsson if you were male,or Jonsdottir if you were his female child. Confused yet,or is it just me? for variety they sometimes use a parent's middle name to form the surname. First names must either be on an approved list of first names or be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee,as they must be able to be easily incorporated into the Icelandic language and contain only letters from the Icelandic alphabet. People are addressed formally by their first names,so it only follows that the telephone directory is alphabetized by first name rather than surname,to avoid confusion...they also list professions!