Strange Powers Of The Us Judiciary.....

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23665106
Clearly this must be allowed under US law but can has anyone any idea of the legal mechanism that gives a judge the right to force a name change? Thanks

[LazyGun]

Its not just the US judiciary that presume to restrict parental choice of name for their sprogs.

In NZ they have a dynamic list of inappropriate names, which parents are not allowed to use;
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/02/new-zealand-updates-banned-baby-names-list/

And Messiah is banned downunder as well, it would seem. From that article, it suggests that Germany and Iceland also reserve the right to band certain names from being used.

Not sure what I think about it. Not keen on Governments banning things that might be related to free speech issues, but I can see the argument about potential problems for a child lumbered with a ridiculous name throughout their childhood.I am less convinced that this was the judges only reason for banning this particular name; Her judgement at least in part seems to have been driven by her own Faith.

[woofgang]

In France there used to be a collection of acceptable names, mostly taken from the Saints of the Rc church. I think it became unenforceable though.

[ToraToraTora]

" but I can see the argument about potential problems for a child lumbered with a ridiculous name throughout their childhood" - plenty of silly names about LG, look at Geldof's kids and the hundreds of silly chav names but I'd still rather the state stayed out of it.

[LazyGun]

@3T Broadly, I would agree with you. Some names are not just ridiculous though - some are actively unpleasant, I would have thought. What does it say about a parent who wishes to saddle their child with a name, spelt phonetically because of the censor, like aynal ?

[sp1814]

Here are some names refused in the UK (don't know who actually does the refusing):

http://www.babynames.co.uk/blog/banned-baby-names/

Wonder how Madonna's parents got away with her name...

[sp1814]

Sorry - just re-read my link. Those names are banned in NZ (even though the site is a UK one).

[sp1814]

I'm not making this up...in the first 'Freakonomics' book, there's a chapter on baby names (and whether giving a child a specific name dooms him/her to failure in life).

It mentions a woman who phoned into a US radio station to complain that her sister had given her neice an inappropriate name. The name was pronounced, Shoo-theed, which sounds quite nice.

But it was actually spelled 'Sh!thead'.

Go figure.

[AB Editor]

Traditionally you might give a child a name which makes them tough.

Citation: Johnny Cash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1BJfDvSITY

[youngmafbog]

But where should it stop?

Should anyone with the surname King be banned from calling their son Wayne? Anyone called Boyle be banned from the first name Lance?

[jomifl]

Youngmaf, there is a scaffolding firm in the UK which delights everybody on the road, with vans and truck signwritten as 'WAYNE KERR'

[FredPuli43]

Churches have their own rules, but registrars have a residual power not to register a name on a birth certificate.

Had a matrimonial once where the mother had changed the boy's name to Christopher. The couple were Jewish and the father was comparatively religious. It was done to annoy him. Just her luck to have a Jewish judge! He made it clear in no uncertain terms that this was not a policy to be attempted. Other than that, I don't know of any judicial intervention on the subject

[LazyGun]

Parents usually give a great deal of thought to the name of their child(ren). You have to ask yourself what kind of sadistic parent is going to saddle their child with a ridiculously inappropriate or even potentially objectionable name - and certainly most parents I have known, including myself, spent long hours trying different names out, seeing what the outcome of shortening the name could be, whether the initials spelt out anything unfortunate.

As I said though, not sure we should be in the business of banning it, but you have to feel for a kid who has to go through life with some ridiculous name because their parents thought it funny.

[naomi24]

sp, that’s an interesting link. Isn’t Katie Price’s daughter called ‘Princess’? Wonder how she got away with that one?

And the cat in Walt Disney’s ‘Cinderella’ is called ‘Lucifer’ – but I don’t suppose the same rules apply in the US.

[FredPuli43]

Don't know about cats, but you can't KC register a dog, or a racehorse with Weatherby's, unless you have an approved name for it. And they are dead fussy. The KC wouldn't allow " [My prefix]Harold Harefoot" because someone had the prefix "Harefoot", so he had to be called Harold Hardrada instead. And the racehorses have such peculiar one word names made of several words ; "naginthestable" rather than "nag in the stable" (not a real horse); because of rules

But you can call your pet any name informally: [My prefix} Harold Hardrada at Bancroft answers to "Comehereyoustupidbugger", for example

[EDDIE51]

I used to work with a Richard Head , I don't think the abbreviated version of the name had the same meaning when he was born in 1948. ' ***' or Gayelord was a common name at one time.

[EDDIE51]

Wow, the swear censor got me, the first name was Gayelord but without the e.

[FredPuli43]

Less offensive, but I was in class with a Peter Green. He was officially either "Green, P." or "P. Green". Lord, how we laughed !

[EDDIE51]

Landlord of a pub near me was I P Freshwater. He even had T shirts printed with the name on and the name of his pub .

[spudqueen]

Eddie - that reminds me of a bloke I used to work with - Richard Cox - and to make it worse his initials were RAW Cow!