It has been reported that courts and government offices have the power to prevent parents naming their children as they wish, if the proposed names are considered a cause for confusion, embarrassment, or are "on any other grounds objectionable."
Among names recently rejected by authorities: Grammophon, Lucifer, Metallica, Ikea, Q, Anus (whoo!) and our favorite, Tulula Does the Hula.
Then there were names for twins turned down (the names turned down, not the twins). These included Benson and Hedges and Fish and Chips. No word on Cash and Carry, Sweet and Lovely, Sturm und Drang, or Hot and Humid.
We are reminded of the paterfamilias somewhere in the American south who wanted all his children--about nine of them, whether boys or girls--named after him. And so each had the same name, which was something like Lemuel. This might have caused confusion in the household, but the mother solved the problem by addressing the children as numbers--Lem One, Lem Two, and so on.
Apparently, no law against that. Yet.
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Reader-author D. Hodge reports that the couple forbidden to name their offspring Ikea are changing the child's name to WalMart.
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ReplyDeleteAnd to that, the all-knowing Mr. P.D. replied that Walmart would probably be permitted because the name can be easily shortened to Wally or Marty.
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