Names having to be approved by the government is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

Here's a recent English case, where a mother wanted to call her two children Preacher and Cyanide.

(This is the appeal) http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/...

Here, the mother was already involved in care proceedings, and the local authority child protection social workers weren't able to just force her to pick different names, but had to go to court in front of an independent judge.

It's a pretty detailed document and it shows, I think, how uncomfortable English judges are with exercising this power.

Surnames are basically a government invention.

For purposes of taxation I believe.

Theres a few reasons for it. In France's case, it's for centralization and the enforcement of Parisian norms over, say, the local culture of Brittany.

There's a less malign version in Iceland, which basically just makes sure that it's possible to use someone's name grammatically in Icelandic.

So how do you use a foreigner's name in Icelandic?

If you take Icelandic citizenship they issue you a new, compatible name.