I’ve had a couple of my European friends tell me, but I want to get it straight in English. I’ve been told several times (in French) from French, Swedish, and German friends that a baby’s name has to approved by the government before the baby can actual be named. Is that true?
Coming from a country where someone can name all of his sons George or a woman can name her daughter Female (that could be an urban legend), that just seems bizarre to me.
AFAIK there are no such laws on the books in the US. I can’t see how they would be allowed by the populace. Of course, every time a “celebrity” has a kid, I kind of wish there **were ** such laws here. But yes, they do exist in other countries, ostensibly to “protect” the child from embarassment and shame.
In a nutshell, some European countries have laws that may prevent parents from giving their child a name that “may expose the child to ridicule”, or a completely invented name, etc.
At least in Germany, it is true. I know that there are similar regulations in other European countries, but I don’t know any details.
[ul]
[li]The name must be recognizable as a given name. In practice this is a bit fuzzy because foreign names are allowed even if practically nobody here knows them.[/li][li]The name must identify the gender correctly. If neccessary, add additional unambiguous names.[/li][li]The name my not be harmful to the child in any other way e.g. expose it to ridicule.[/li][/ul]
And, no, this doesn’t bother us.