Baby Naming Rules

[ludwig]

I was reading this..
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30993608

..and wondered what laws we had in the UK to prevent idiots inflicting stupid names on their children. Anyone know?

(Interesting to note that the name 'number 16 bus shelter' is ok in New Zealand.)

[hc4361]

You can name your baby anything you like unless it is deemed offensive and then the Registrar will refuse.

[zoe76]

Didn't the bus shelter name get disallowed? or maybe that was something equally stupid, I kind of remember it was a longer name than that I read but the bus shelter one was definitely in the reading.

Shame the parents don't think!! Maybe anyone giving children ridiculous names should be made to change theirs to something along the lines of I'm such an *** when it comes to my children

[ichkeria]

Iceland: Carolina: NO; Bjork, presumably, : YES

Takes all sorts :-)

[atalanta]

French priests used to insist on baptismal names being biblical names only. This got boring. Which is why so many French names are those of two saints, hyphenated, such as Jean-Paul or Jeanne-Louise. However, there was a notorious case of the Trognon family - quite a few years ago now. The family adopted a child, whom they wanted to register with the family name. The authorities said they couldn't, since " Trognon " was ridiculous ( it means "cabbage stalk" ) so they refused to let the child have that name. The family appealed, and won.

[chaptazbru2]

I can't stand it when normal names are altered to some daft spelling. For example, I heard of an Ameelya the other day, instead of Amelia !!

[ichkeria]

"Trognon" just means a core or a stalk but while it sounds silly translated into English it's a valid enough name.
If the family name was that - as opposed to the first name - then it seems bizarre to try to stop someone adopting that name if the rest of the family have it

[jno]

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii was also ruled out

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7522952.stm

I think the Bus Shelter one was bestowed following the same principle as Brooklyn Beckham's: place of conception.

[wolf63]

I like these three comments from jno's link -

• My unusual name hasn't affected me at all; in fact, it has helped me make friends and improve my confidence, especially since leaving school.
Russell Sprout, London, UK

• I hated my parents for what they named me up until I was a teenager, but then I just became comfortable with it. I suppose it was just bad for me as my sister was called Judy.
Ftango Molasses, London England

• I have been teased mercilessly from childhood to my adult years...you won't believe the amount of times people have burst out laughing right in my face when they ask my name..
Craig Gogay, London, UK

[roopower]

I have a theory that a lot of the unusual spellings of names is because parents can't spell. My mother in law was a teacher she had a child in her class called Kelvin. His mother said they didn't know what to call him so he was named after the fridge - a kelvinater.

[bert_h]

// Shame the parents don't think!! //

There was a girl in my sister's school class in Glasgow called Ailsa Craig.

My wife was introduced to a couple of people once, with "This is Agnes Day, and her friend Gloria Mundy". She really almost fell about laughing, and it must have looked rather discourteous, but it was hopeless to try to explain.

[EDDIE51]

^^ Kelvin is quite a common name in Wales . I have a mate called Kelvin.

[zebo]

Roopower, so true! How many ways can you spell Siobhan, I've seen Chevorn, Shivarn and Shervon. A friend had a new pupil called, speaking with his mother, Gooey. When asked to fill in the forms it was Guy! A colleague who worked evenings in the Family Planning clinic was told by a midwife that one of our ex pupils had called her daughter Kyoomi, (or something like that) when asked where she'd heard such an unusual name, she replied From a deodorant ad on TV!

[BlackadderV]

As mentioned, the French used to insist that a childd be named after a saint or a national hero, As for hyphenated names, not much different from people having middle names which are rarely used. As for names in translation, a former German chancellor in English would be called Helmut Cabbage.