Should it be illegal to give kids stupid/horrendous names?

[mattttherman3]

I would name my kid Garrus or maybe Tali.

 

[Hafnium]

You have to get names approved by the government here in Denmark, and only offensive or really stupid names are prevented, so it's fine.

 

[Cavouku]

A quick question related closely to the thread and based on an arguement i had the other week. Does where a name comes from make it bad, or is that solely based on the name. For instance, i think Thane would be a good name because it's quite interesting and i like the way it sounds without it being really really stupid.

My friend however believes it's a bad name, because i got it from a mass effect 2 character. Does anyone have any feelings either way? Not to this specific name, but just to the whole idea of getting names from games/films/whatever (providing they arent ridiculous).

Thane, Thane... what is your current country of residence?

 

[Savagezion]

Jermaine Jackson has a Daughter named Jermajesty

I found the case of Drew Peacock hilarious even though it was a simple oversight.

Of course you have the famous "Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii" and I guess someone out there is named "Number 16 Bus Shelter".

I think there should be a law that says "Name cannot use numbers outside of 'the third'" (Sr. Jr. etc) As well no words such as "The, If, To, etc." can be used in the naming."

 

[Jroo wuz heer]

my friends dad used to be a stenographer in a court specifically for name-changes
my two favorites that he told me about are Amber Ger (pronounced 'amburger) and Dick Hertz

and a different friends parents are planning to name their next kid rainbow

 

[Jonluw]

Actually, in my country, there are plenty of kids' names that are illegal.
It was very normal to call your child "Bjørn" (It's my dad's name) some 30 years back, for example; but now, the government has decided that you can't name children after animals (Bjørn is the Norwegian word for bear, you see)

Personally, I think that's a bit silly. Naming children after animals was pretty common, so there should be no reason to ban that. I still think it's good that we have laws that keep parents from naming their kids "Peaceoshit" though.

Edit: Ok, here's what the law actually says.

You may not choose a name that will be a significant inconvenience to the bearer.

Now I think thats fair. I think it'd be hard for them to enforce and such, due to opinion (aside from obvious things), but sounds right.

Every parent has to register their child's name with the government within six months after birth.
Edit: Oh, wups. You said "due to opinion". My bad.

Fun fact: The law also states that any name that has been registered as being used as a last or middle name may not be used as a first name.
Say, for example that you're registered with the last name "Dicking". That means noone's allowed to use "Dicking" as their first name. (If I've interpreted it right that is. It might be that only names that have a tradition of being used as last names are illegal.)

The more you know.

 

[Cavouku]

You know... Yeah.

I have a somewhat unusual name myself; the problem being it's too long, and with my surname being also long, it takes ages to introduce myself.

But unusual and stupid names, that's even worse. It's usually the stupid mothers' idea: Oh our kid is going to be so special, he has to have a special name! Bullshit. There are even studies saying that kids with usual names have it easier in life.

BTW in some Eastern European countries there are actual laws about names: Here, you can only give a name from a given list (several thousands names), so nothing like 'Moon' or whatever. It's possible to add a new name to the list, but it has to pass some requirements first.

Ah, I was beaten to the punch on the list thing. What do you think of my idea of the middle name (I actually don't know how many places use middle names) being the one the parents are (within reason, forbidding symbols, numbers, anything else that isn't a letter) allowed to fuck with? No one really uses their middle name in any documentation I've needed to sign.

...Although just in case, maybe a letter limit, like 10 letters, absolute maximum.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Illegal? Maybe not. Frowned upon? VERY. People will still do it, no matter how bad the names are.

I mean, 4 Real? SERIOUSLY?

 

[theriddlen]

Here, in Poland, it is disallowed to give your kids embarrassing, stupid, offensive etc. names. It's good, you can still give your child original name, but some weirdos (and they do exist) won't destroy someones life by naming him, for example, Dicktits.

 

[Baldry]

Feck no. If I wanna name my child Chewbacca I'm naming my child Chewbacca! You just have to make sure that the people who name kids use some common sense.

 

[Negatempest]

Yes, the parents should be slapped over the head, HARD. With names like Banjo and Apple for the name of a child, should we as the supposed "responsible" adult just say "Not my problem now" when giving kids ridiculous names? **** NO. We have to do our best to make sure that not only the name is unique but it isn't something they can get easily teased for. If a name isn't a big deal than name your kid Brutus or Judas. If you don't think that a child's suffering is worth preventing that you can name your kid those 2 names with no fear at all. So many words I wanna use but could get banned to say to parents who give their kids such stupid names.

 

[Buccura]

As much as I hate the idea of a kid being named something like Fluffy, Booboo or named after any Twilight character, I do unfortunately have to point out, who defines stupid or horrendous? Unless it's an offensive name, like the N word or whatever.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

i dont think there's anything wrong with it, for example think of all the john's,mary's,bill's etc. you know

it gives some originality

ps. my first born son will be named vivi

 

[Furbyz]

I knew a kid named Jack Kenneth Goff. He should not have had to deal with everything he had to.

 

[dfphetteplace]

Just throwing this out there, but when I was working in an ER one night (I'm a paramedic, and we have to work there during our training), I was asked to go call a patient back. The patient was an 8 year old girl with her parents (who didn't look like a real set of winners). I looked at the patient's name, and now I may spell this wrong, but her name on the sheet was something like Phelonie. I called out Felona, because my mind couldn't process the stupidity of these people, but it was thrown in my face when they corrected me. "It's pronounced Felony." My reply? "I'm sure it is." These idiots named their child after a criminal offense. Was she named after the conditions of her conception or something? These two must hate that poor little girl.

 

[108Stitches]

Wouldn't the better place be to start with making a law against who can have kids? We have to get licenses to drive, to get married, to sell liquor, but not to have children. Not surprising that "unique" names happen.

 

[diebane]

Well, there was this one family who had 3 kids with the names "Adolf", "Heinrich" and "Aryan Nation". Dunno what happened to them though. Pretty cruel if you ask me, the poor kid can't defend himself, you give him that shitty name and ruin his life.

Courage Wolf Harper...dude...

mfG diebane

 

[zehydra]

no? You can't ban things because someone thinks "it's stupid".

This is a terrible idea.

 

[Cheesus333]

I don't think you should name a kid what you like. I think you should name them what they will probably like when they're older. And if that seems too much of a stretch, then for the love of God at least give them a chance. If you name your little boy Petal or something, he will not survive school (mentally anyway, they're unlikely to lynch him).

 

[Arehexes]

Pilot Inspector
Moon Unit

Actually, Jason Lee named his son Pilot Inspektor. Spelled wrong on purpose.
And Frank Zappa's other kid was named Dweezil Zappa. Not as bad as Moon Unit but still pretty bad.

Eh, I like some of the odd names. Not uber-weird names like Pilot Inspektor but the ones you don't hear often. They're better than having everyone named John or Katey or other boring names like that.

[sub]no offense meant to anyone named John or Katey or other boring names like that.[/sub]

Every child should be named Kefka Palazzo, ok back on topic. I find it funny personally, ever work at a pool in a low income area? Oh the names I have to read, and figure out how to spell.

I am definitely naming my son Kefka Palazzo. Think of how scared shitless anyone who has played FF6 will be when they're around my son. I can see him in day care, He'll be like, "Can I have some juice?" and the teacher will be all, "Please don't kill me and poison the juice supply!!!"

I considered naming my kid that but I would be scared when he gets older that he would destroy me while laughing with a fire behind him and a tower of cars wrecked...