naming a child - are there bad baby names?

[funchy]

Holland Township man names son after Adolf Hitler and one grocery store doesn't want to make a "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" cake.

Should parents not be allowed to name their child anything?

[Elrond]

No. If you name your child Adolf Hitler [lastname], you are setting him up to be regularly teased and even scorned by other people (not everyone, but it will happen, for sure). IMO it's a form of abuse.

[Cran]

I agree, some names shouldn't be allowed.

Many names that are in use in the USA wouldn't be allowed in Germany. Apple, for example. Nobody would be allowed to call their child "Apfel"... and especially not Adolf Hitler!

[Holistic Star]

We tell everyone that we are going to call our first born son Judas because we like Bible names.

Doesn't go down very well!

[tstesen]

Originally Posted by funchy

Should parents not be allowed to name their child anything?

As a child raised by two German parents I find it to be very offensive and insensitive. I saw that article a few days ago and couldn't believe a parent would do such a thing. Only in America.

Personally I think as long as the name you choose isn't offensive or racist you should be able to name your child what you like. I named my first child, a boy, Sterling and I got a lot of grief from my friends and family. In my opinion I think it's a nice name and we haven't had any issues of kids ridiculing him and he's now in the third grade.

[tstesen]

Originally Posted by Cran

Many names that are in use in the USA wouldn't be allowed in Germany. Apple, for example. Nobody would be allowed to call their child "Apfel"... and especially not Adolf Hitler!

Exactly. You cannot just name your child anything in Germany, they have strict rules.

German law mandates a baby name must reflect the sex of the child, and not endanger the well being of the child. Once a baby name is chosen, the expectant parents must register the name with the Standesamt.

The Standesamt relies on a guide book which translates to 'the international manual of the first names'. The manual is referenced for making decisions on whether a baby name is acceptable.

If the Standesamt rejects a proposed baby name, German parents may file an appeal. Should the parents lose the appeal, they will have to submit a different baby name. Since there is a fee for each name registration, having a baby name rejected will cost you additional Euros.

The Standesamt's website lists recent baby names decisions which went through the appeal process. The name 'Matti' was recently rejected as a baby boy name because the name did not clearly identify the gender. The name 'Calotta' was recently rejected because it was similar to the French word 'Calotte' which means cap. But the Standesamt ruled the names 'Legolas' and 'Nemo' were acceptible baby boy names.

[jeff3]

Originally Posted by tstesen

Exactly. You cannot just name your child anything in Germany, they have strict rules.

. Since there is a fee for each name registration, having a baby name rejected will cost you additional Euros.

.

Thank Gods the USA is still relatively free. I think you should be able to name your baby whatever you want, and when the child's gets a mind of their own they should be allowed to change it if you were so foolish as to name him Adolph Hitler......of course if you're a neo-na*i, it may be OK. What's with all this talk of controlling others?

[Matt Willard]

I would just advise naming the child something that's not going to get him beaten up

[Eric Revelin]

While it may be a form of abuse to give a child a bad name (yes, I agree on that point) I'm firmly against any law that would restrict your ability to choose a name. It's a bit of a double edged sword, isn't it?

I can't help but think that if they can tell you what you can or cannot name your child, it's only a matter of time before they place strict controls on you in other areas of your life. That's something I can't abide.

If anything, give the child the ability to contest his or her name if a case can be made that said child is suffering psychological and/or social hardship. If successful, give the child a random "normal" name that he/she can change, free of charge, at the age of 18 if it is desired.

[Chris Cade]

Originally Posted by Elrond

No. If you name your child Adolf Hitler [lastname], you are setting him up to be regularly teased and even scorned by other people (not everyone, but it will happen, for sure). IMO it's a form of abuse.

Some people have said it is abusive and cruel to name our son "Quantum"

Other people have said it's awesome.

Should the government be the person deciding whether or not "Quantum" is "awesome" or "abusive"?

[Trezker]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

I would just advise naming the child something that's not going to get him beaten up

Oh, that is impossible. No name is ever safe from the cruelty and imagination of children.
Though of course some names are almost guaranteed to give the child hard times.

[jtracy]

I think that children have a tendency to pick on other children no matter what you name them. With me, it was my surname that other children made fun of, and it wasn't a particularily odd surname. However I am sure there are some names that other children will make fun of more than others. If I was naming my child, I would be sensitive to that, even though I love unusual names as long as they are not hurtful to anyone.

I don't know that having a law preventing parents from naming their child certain names would be constructive, especially since it would be almost impossible to decide what those names would be in all situations. It would probably be much more productive to focus on allowing the child to change his name easily if he dislikes it or runs into trouble with it.

As far as "Adolph Hitler" goes, I think it's interesting that the parents would even think of getting a commercial cake done for him. It seems that the parents with the strangest (or most unhealthy) ideas are also the same ones that insist most forcefully that the rest of the world agree with them. It's just like the parents with the worst-behaved children are also the ones that protest most loudly when you tell them that their child is badly-behaved.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by jeff3

Thank Gods the USA is still relatively free. I think you should be able to name your baby whatever you want, and when the child's gets a mind of their own they should be allowed to change it if you were so foolish as to name him Adolph Hitler......of course if you're a neo-na*i, it may be OK. What's with all this talk of controlling others?

Oh yes, nevermind the inevitable teasing and scorn of the child as long as the parents may freely exercise their right to be idiots (or ”to make a statement” or whatever. You don’t use your own child to make a statement, for Zeus’ sake).

Originally Posted by Chris Cade

Some people have said it is abusive and cruel to name our son "Quantum"

Other people have said it's awesome.

Should the government be the person deciding whether or not "Quantum" is "awesome" or "abusive"?

Since you're an american I'm guessing this question is rethorical. I’ll bite anyway.

If someone gets named Adolf Hitler, that person WILL face negative attention from others, the only question is to what degree. But it is a fair guess that it will affect the person very very much, in a bad way.

”Quantum”? Unless that might be used as an association to the most famous war and genocide in history, it is not comparable to this case. And it isn’t ”the governemt” that ”decides” if a name might have dire consequences for a person: it is actual real life cases of people that have been given names and the direct consequences good/bad of that naming. Failing that, in this case, one can use logic and reason to arrive at the conclusion that it is very likely, considering how much World War 2 is taught in school and discussed in society, and the threshold for teasing and cruelty among kids that a name like Adolf Hitler will have a strongly negative impact on a child.

[lifetimelearner]

Originally Posted by funchy

Holland Township man names son after Adolf Hitler and one grocery store doesn't want to make a "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" cake.

Should parents not be allowed to name their child anything?

there should be no law against child naming

but all I can say is -

damn man!
that's so ♥♥♥-g cruel and hateful to the memories of all the people that died

makes me want to puke !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[funchy]

Another news story on weird names:
Teenager changes name to Captain Fantastic - Telegraph

Teen changes name to "Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined".

Captain Fantastic joins a number of people with unusually long names, including Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenk Koyaanisquatsiuth Williams, a girl born in Texas in 1984.

[Jim11]

Would sending your kid to school with a "heil hitler" t-shirt be ok? I doubt it would fly. I don't think naming a kid adolph hitler should be allowed either.

The kid can change it when he's older? Sure. He has parents that have no common sense and obviously don't care much about how he'll be treated. I'm sure there's a decent chance he won't be a rational human being when he's old enough to change his name on his own.

I think only people over the age of 18 should be allowed to name THEMSELVES ridiculous names. I'm all for freedom to abuse yourself, but child abuse doesn't go over as well.

I don't think there needs to be tight restrictions. But if it's obviously absurd then it's only fair to the incoming child.