A 10-year-old Icelandic girl was denied a passport renewal because her name is not a recognized first name in the country. Parents Tristan and Kristen Cardew are appealing the National Registry in Reykjavik's decision that their daughter's name, Harriet, is not legitimate.

The law dictates that the parents, unless they are both foreign, must submit their child's name to the National Registry within six months of his or her birth. If it is not among the recognized 1,853 female or 1,712 male names, the parents must approve the child's name with the Icelandic Naming Committee.

The committee reportedly receives about 100 applications for the roughly 5,000 children born in the country each year and rejects about half. The selectivity of the committee is due to a 1996 act created to preserve Icelandic language. Given names must be "capable of having Icelandic grammatical endings,"

"That was the problem with Harriet," father Tristan Cardew said. "It can't be conjugated in Icelandic."

Kristin and Tristan, who was born in the U.K., have four children; Lilja and Belinda, born in France, along with Harriet and Duncan, born in Iceland. The family applied for the passport renewals when planning a trip to France.

"They have deprived our daughter of the freedom of movement," Kristen Cardew told visir.is. "It is in violation of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child."

The registry also refused to approve 12-year-old Duncan's passport. The two children have traveled until now with passports identifying them as Stúlka and Drengur Cardew, or Girl and Boy Cardew. The parents filed for emergency passports with the British Embassy so they would not have to miss their travel arrangements.

The Cardews say they have not ruled out taking the matter to court, although they may be able to avoid the issue by giving Harriet an Icelandic middle name.