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

[ANImaniac89]

My first born will be named Larry Curly-Moe Schembs

because my last name is Schembs and I love puns

 

[Nouw]

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]

John Mclane begs to differ xD

Well it's very subjective, to one 'horrendous' is completely different to another. Unless it makes your life worse because of bullies/teasing, you can just change it when you're older.

 

[Devil's Due]

Nobody is going to bully someone named Metallica. They'll stare and bow, not insult.

I probably would have if I was a kid again, because that name is just stupid. I never would now that I'm older, but as a kid if I saw someone with such a stupid name I probably would have made fun of them. Who knows, I never did as a kid, but you can honestly never tell.

As for the thread, I don't think it should be illegal, but seriously shunned by society and frowned upon to the parents, while teachers and such should watch to make sure the kids aren't bullied during school more closely for their protection, and to teach awareness that some parents are just idiots at naming names and that the kids should be more understanding of that.

 

[Wrists]

I think it's a bad idea that any name can be used...to prove this point I intend to name my children from the following list (irrespective of gender):

Odin
Zeus
Caligula
Nero
Balthazaar
Slushpuppy

...and I look forward to it.

 

[Canid117]

Eh, nothing wrong with naming a boy Violet. It is quite a nice name. Sure, normally a girl's name, but does that matter?
If he really hates it that much when he is older, he can always change it.

It will be too late by then
http://www.cracked.com/article/195_7-things-good-parents-do-that-screw-up-kids-life/

 

[teebeeohh]

maybe there should be something akin to a "get out of jail card", when you turn 18(or whatever the local age for adulthood) you get to change your name ONCE and after 6 month you decide whether you or your parents were stupid and my change it back

 

[krugerrand123]

Everyone has a different definition of a stupid name, but if the people are naming their kid that name because it is stupid, I believe their should be some penalty for that.

 

[emeraldrafael]

No, I dont think it should be stopped. Its their kid, they should get to name it. In fact, I dont think men should have any say in the naming of a child, because they didnt have it. Who are any of us to tell them no?

It just shows that you're not ready to have kids if you name it something stupid, but thats on you.

 

[Bretty]

I remember a kid called 'Bo' in the UK. His parents were hippies!

Then I moved to the US. And you people are INSANE!!!! I know a person called Cali (full name is California) not to mention you celebrities.

I am sure now that I have been out of the UK for 7 years we have gone to steal some rediculous names.

But hey, think about it for a second. You're born to a really really rich family and called something really stupid. Do you care? You are richer than god?

 

[Beryl77]

personally I don't have a problem with unusual names but as a parent you also should consider how the child will be treated at school. Many children aren't really open-minded to unusual things. If a child has a funny/unusual name, then it will probably attract some bullies.
I would choose a normal name and if he/she really wants a special name later, then he/she can change it afterwards.

 

[MisterM2402]

This reminds of the scene in The Simpsons (couldn't find a video clip of it):

At the Family Jewels store, Homer and Marge survey the choice of rings.

Marge: Homer, I've been thinking, if the baby's a boy, what do you think
of the name Larry?
Homer: Marge, we can't do that! All the kids will call him `Larry Fairy'.
Marge: Well, how about Louie?
Homer: They'll call him `Screwy Louie'.
Marge: Bob?
Homer: `Flob'.
Marge: Luke?
Homer: `Puke'.
Marge: Marcus?
Homer: `Mucus'.
Marge: What about Bart?
Homer: Let's see... Bart, Cart, Dart, Ee-art... Nope, can't see any problem
with that!

Also, my older brother wanted to call me "Bruce Wayne [surname]" when I was born hehehe.

 

[Zyxx]

I like the "no name that will be a significant inconvenience to the bearer" rule. The only problem is it requires a bit of common sense to work out, and that seems more and more like a misnomer every year.

Worst names I know, and I either personally know each of their bearers or have heard of them from reliable sources (e.g. my own mother):
Vanity (she's really not that conceited),
Fashionette (Didn't know her well, but I think she WAS that conceited)
Byoutiful Unyque (if you're going to name a kid an adjective, at least have the decency to do it in another language, and mangling your own doesn't count. She was that conceited too.)
La4sha (yes, with the numeral)
And the worst name I've ever heard of anyone anywhere having, and once again I am not making this up:
Vagina
(pronounced with a long "gee" sound.)
Who could POSSIBLY hate her own daughter that much?

Then there are the (American English) names which aren't pronounced in American English, like Brittney spelled "Brittiania", or Diana (Dee-an-a) spelled Dania. These are people who have almost certainly lived Stateside for the past several generations, and at least a few of them should know how to read. What really irritates me is when these people act like I'M the idiot for not pronouncing their name "correctly" at first.

I also knew a kid named Gannon, and when I asked him if he got lots of Zelda jokes he didn't know what I was talking about. I was depressed all that day.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Interesting! No, really..you have clearly spent a lot of time guessing my thoughts and beliefs here..about things I am not even discussing no less.

That isn't really the case here. The case is more like YOU not really thinking your own idiotic and irrational opinions through very much.

Thankfully, some of us actually use our brains from time to time and are able to see the errors in rash and illogical opinions like yours. Unfortunately your head is stuck too deep in your own ass to actually admit it, but then again that's hardly any surprising.

Do I have to repeat myself again? What the ape shit ice-cream balls are you talking about?

Perhaps you lack sufficient intelligence to gain anything from the comparisons I've made with your very own argument? Or perhaps your ego is simply too big to admit obvious faults, blinding you in the process? I don't really care which.

Have you noticed how everyone else has not picked up on what you're on about?

Erm, there are quite a few posters in this thread who've expressingly tried to tell you and all the others that in the case og bullies vs people with supposedly "stupid" names, it is the bullies who are doing the wrong thing, not the parents for choosing "stupid" names for their children.

Also it's quite amusing the way you seem perfectly incapable of entertaining the idea that what name seem "stupid" to one person, might sound perfectly fine and rational to someone else, since you know, that pesky phenomenon of people having different tastes in things. Which once more confirms my suspicion that your head is stuck way inside your own ass. Only your opinions and tastes are the ones that matter, right?

It might have something to do with the fact that I, and everyone else, are talking about parents who give stupid name to their kids [Bolded for your benefit, because I think you might have some visual-cognitive impairment] and you're on some sort of acid-trip.

I wonder who's on the acid trip here, considering that you can't even see the extension of what your very own arguments lead to. It's pretty fucking obvious that if you fault parents for giving their children "stupid" names (although "stupid" in your eyes, or "stupid" in the eyes of the bullies has yet to be determined), then it's pretty much the same thing as saying that the parents should conform to the bullies in case they don't want their child to get picked on. I.e the bullies are RIGHT to bully and pick on people.

It doesn't matter what kind of excuses you try to invent, because that is the only logical conclusion of it.

Which of course begs the question: Do you honestly believe that bullies fill some form of beneificent function by harassing people simply because those people have funny names? Is the world or even one single society somehow damaged because some kids have names that doesn't conform to the current (and fickle, I might add) trend? Really, how are the bullies or anyone else for that matter hurt/injured/distressed by a boy named "Violet"? Because your stated opinions here only lead to that the bullies are right for doing what they do, regardless if you have thought about it or not.

So which is it? Who are at fault? The bullies or the parents who didn't think of conforming according to the bullies arbitrary rules?

Once again, I am talking about kids with horrendous names thanks to their parents. YOU, on the other hand, made a whole bunch of assumptions on my part. (I like the part about the rape victims and the things I apparently say to them..it made me chuckle. Not as much as me pissing on freedom though, now THAT got a round of applause from the room)

No it wasn't really an assumption but a comparison presented to illustrate exactly what conclusions your warped logic leads to.

Also, once again, "horrendous" is subjective. What's horrendous to some isn't horrendous to others, and there isn't exactly any godgiven or scientific point that gives one side right over the other in the matter. This phenomenon will ultimately lead to the situation where some parents think a name is "horrendous", but other parents don't.

It will also lead to situations where potential bullies think a name is "horrendous" or, according to their twisted logic, reasonable to pick on and harass the person with the name in question, but the parents giving the name disagree.

Seriously, it doesn't take a particularly long leap in logic to realize this. So what's it gonna be according to you?

I agree that even potential bullies are entitled to a subjective opinion about the nature of names and if they sound stupid or not, but does that include the right to harass and abuse other people? After all, you never really condemn the bullies for doing something wrong here, but only place blame and condemnation on parents for giving their children "stupid" names, so should we interpret that as a sign that you don't have anything against harassment and violence based on arbitrary sense of taste?

It would be terribly interesting to see how you are going to free yourself from the corner which you have painted yourself into through logic, because if you succeed then you have to possess a pretty impressive intellect.

Aw, you got me there buddy. I was just saying before how "might makes right" and how we should force something into those bullies because they clearly have to be dealt with via a show of force because I am from an uncivilized society. Oh, and while I was saying that mouthful I also was saying how parent's changing their kids names somehow translates to conforming to bullies because we all know that the only thing the bullies want from their victims is a name change. YEAH!! Oppression FTW!! Take that Democracy!

Rant as much as you like. You won't find any chinks in the logical analysis of your arguments.

Oh and also FYI, I have another confession for you, [whisper]If you know that the person you are going to have sex with will give you an STD but you have unprotected sex anyway, because say you didn't want to consider the consequences, you might be called a giant, gaping, dic idiot by most people. If you did however have the forethought to put a condom on, then perhaps you may have saved yourself from some awkward future moments. [/whisper]

Just messing with you, condoms are a sign of oppression! Didn't you know that?

Once again, STD's are natural diseases which we have no exact control over which makes us adapt to their existence by avoiding them or curing them through medical treatments.

How we are supposed to act in relation to people with names we somehow find funny or "stupid" is something that we DO have control over. I choose to hold people who decides to bully other people responsible for their choices, rather than put up a de-facto defense of them like you do when you choose to instead placing the blame on innocent people (in this case, the parents).

Parents are people just like everyone else, and they have their own subjective preferences and it will be pretty fucking difficult to prove that they actually choose a name for their child intended to hurt OTHER people. And even if such malicious intent could somehow be proven, there is no substantial evidence to support that a simple name actually COULD cause any tangible damage to anyone else.

Which means that bullies have no reasonable excuse for their actions at all. Yet they choose to do what they do despite that fact, and I choose to hold them responsible for it as well as condemning them for it. You haven't done much of that. You've chosen to treat bullying as some kind of "fact of life" or natural force like it was gravity or something, basically taking away all responsibility from the bullies in question.

So chuckle and ignore these facts all you like, but your point and warped sense of logic has been exposed whether you like it or not. So you can either chooste to keep your head in your ass OR you can... you know, pull it out from there, because it doesn't just look silly but also quite disgusting and uncomfortable for you.

but yeah, Grr! Grr, because I feel so mad that you have seen through my clever disguise and logic. Oh the humanity, how will I ever live with myself for being the monster that I am? Perhaps I should go find a rape victim to laugh at now?

Whatever floats your boat.

Sadly this means that I won't have the time to dignify your "diligent" and "rational" arguments with the response that it deserves but what can I do? I have bullies to high-five and freedom to oppress and only 8 hours of daylight left.

Got any more "witty" sarcasm in store for us, or are you quite finished?

But can I just say this, in all my time as an internet forum poster I have never, never, never met anyone whose username matched their argument style as appropriately as you do.

You say that now. But the really scary part will come when you come to your senses and actually realize I am right.

Few things are as unsettling as realizing that the percieved "lunatics" of the otherwise "rational" world are right about something.

p.s- "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" is an old saying. It means, "don't take on a task if you are unwilling to face its pressures" but it was nice to know that heat was a natural phenomenon because all along I thought it was magics.

Oh really, I "certainly" didn't know that! :O (the sarcastic statements continue)

The point I made was to illustrate that the saying in question wasn't particularly applicable in this instance.

p.p.s - Speaking of natural phenomenons..wouldn't bullying be considered a natural phenomenon as well, because its an inevitable part of child development? I am pretty sure that I stumbled across something...

[...] At the same time, there are those in the organization who have concluded from empirical studies that bullying is a natural phenomena and that their role is deserved to be the victim of the bullying activities due to their poor self-image, low level of self-efficacy, or past experiences with bullies (Felson & Steadman, 1983; Olweus, 1978; Schwartz, Dodge, & Coie, 1993; R. Sparks, Glenn, & Dodd, 1977).

Hahaha, oh little grasshopper. *tsk tsk tsk*

I must really advise you not to try getting into the science of this, especially not if you're going to use such weak "empirical studies" as ammo in that kind of intellectual war. Chances are simply to great that you'll get crushed and humiliated, so let's stick to keeping it somewhat ideological and subjective shall we? At least then you'll have the comfort of falling back on the fact of subjective opinions and how they can differ in the matter.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

I'd like to preface this topic by saying I'm not completely serious about it being illegal, per say. Just that there certainly should be rules in place to stop it from happening.

I'm fairly sure there ARE rules that state the clerk at the registry office can refuse/disallow names. Definately in France, and I'm fairly sure in the UK too... However, some do slip through... Me, I'm happy with my name, my parents were/are fairly sensible.

 

[Altorin]

*shrug* most people don't give their kids stupid names, and those who do, the kids will typically take on their own name.

Then, if you're given a normal name, like my friend Will, you can change your name to something silly, like Knifehand (which he actually did)

there definitely shouldn't be laws.

 

[El Poncho]

People say they can change it when their older but when their older people get less cruel, everyone should know by now that school is the worst place to have an odd name.

 

[badgersprite]

I have to admit, I look down on people who give their kids stupid names like this, because it tells me that they think their babies are like toys or pets for them to play with. Parents don't give their kids names like this because they think their child is unique; they give them names like this because the parents themselves want to feel unique.

Anyway, rant aside, I feel any girl who is named after a car or a liquor should be taken away from her parents. Why? BECAUSE THEY GAVE HER A FUCKING STRIPPER NAME!!!

 

[Griphphin]

That Louis C.K. clip is the first thing I thought of when I saw this topic. I got a good name, so I'm totally fine with stupid names!