Iceland Gazetteers

Online Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places
 * Icelandic Roots - Place Names- includes translations of Icelandic into English
 * Orðasöfn - Landakort.is - searchable dictionaries, glossaries, indexes and place names
 * Islandsk stedfortegnelse : navnlig til benyttelse som postadressebog, med et lille kort over Island = Íslenzkt Bæjatal ; er einkum má nota sem póstsendingabók Vilh. H. Finsen. Íslenzkt Bæjatal ; er einkum má nota sem póstsendingabók. Copenhagen, Denmark : I kommission hos universitetsbog-handler G. E. C. Gad, 1885 - English translation of above: Icelandic Place List: especially for use as a mailing address book, with a small map of Iceland = Íslenzkt Bæjatal; is mainly used as a mailing book. Book is also available in the FamilySearch Library (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
 * Iceland, official standard names approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names U.S. Board of Geographic Names. Gazetteer No. 57 Iceland. Washington, D.C. : Office of Geography, 1961

Print Only Gazetteers

 * Baejatal a Islandi Baejatal a Islandi - Manuscript in English
 * Bæjatal á Íslandi 1930 Póststjórnin. Bæjatal á Íslandi. Reykjavík, Iceland : Ísafoldarprentsmiðja, 1930
 * Bæjatal á Íslandi 1961 Póst- og Símamálastjórninni. Bæjatal á Íslandi 1961. Reykjavík, Iceland : Pośt- og Símamálastjórninni, 1961
 * Iceland; official standard names approved by the U. S. Board on Geographic Names U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Iceland; official standard names approved by the U. S. Board on Geographic Names. Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office (United States), 1961
 * Index of farms and villages in Iceland, 1847 and 1848 John Y. Bearnson. Index of farms and villages in Iceland, 1847 and 1848. [1958?]
 * Jarðatal á Íslandi J. Johnsen. Jarðatal á Íslandi. Copenhagen, Denmark : Prentað hjá S. Trier, 1847. Digital copy or film available in Family History Centers and at the FamilySearch Library (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)

Why Use Gazetteers
A gazetteer is a dictionary of place-names. Gazetteers list or describe towns and villages, parishes, states, populations, rivers and mountains, and other geographical features. They usually include only the names of places that existed at the time the gazetteer was published. Within a specific geographical area, the place-names are listed in alphabetical order, similar to a dictionary. You can use a gazetteer to locate the places where your family lived and to determine the civil and religious jurisdictions over those places.

There are many places within a country with similar or identical place-names. You will need to use a gazetteer to identify the specific town where your ancestor lived, the state the town was or is in, and the jurisdictions where records about the person was kept.

Gazetteer Contents
Gazetteers may also provide additional information about towns, such as:


 * Different religious denominations
 * Schools, colleges, and universities
 * Major manufacturers, canals, docks, and railroad stations
 * The population size.
 * Boundaries of civil jurisdiction.
 * Ecclesiastical jurisdiction(s)
 * Longitude and latitude.
 * Distances and direction from other from cities.
 * Schools, colleges, and universities.
 * Denominations and number of churches.
 * Historical and biographical information on some individuals (usually high-ranking or famous individuals)