# How long after birth can a baby remain nameless? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173 "2008-09-25T17:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![unspun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b9bd4f/32.png) [@unspun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unspun)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/1 "2008-09-25T17:05:07Z")
Is there any law forcing parents to apply a name? I remember reading about a Swedish couple that gave their kid some ridiculously long name (with a short pronunciation) around age 4-5, after holding out on giving a name at all. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/2 "2008-09-25T17:13:44Z")
The parents could name their child “Baby”, “Boy”, or “Girl” perfectly fine and then change it when they really decide. It could stay that way forever so the answer is infinite. My grandmother wasn’t named until about a week out of the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/3 "2008-09-25T17:43:32Z")
USA: I’m going to take a logical guess and say that in these days you have to have a name for the baby before take them out of the hospital because: 1.The hospital need to file paperwork to obtain a birth certificate AND 2.for your child to obtain a SSN. I’m going to assume this is for tax purposes. I was in the hsptl for nearly a week and was told I had to have a name before I could take my (youngest) home. It took us awhile to agree upon a name, to say the least. Not sure if there really is a law though, but am really curious to know! ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/4 "2008-09-25T17:51:01Z")
> [@unspun](#): > > Is there any law forcing parents to apply a name? I remember reading about a Swedish couple that gave their kid some ridiculously long name (with a short pronunciation) around age 4-5, after holding out on giving a name at all. I work for a city gov’t, and the vital stats people say that if you hold off more than 5 days (which is when the hospitals submit the paperwork to the county records dept) that you will need to go to court to change the name, and the birth cert will say ‘baby [last name here]’. I am mad at SSN- we gave our daughter five names and they didn’t put it on the card. I know there is room, as I have seen SS cards with more than one line. Isis Keiko Narcissa Solchaga Phelps was abbrieviated to read Isis Keiko N Phelps. The way the dmv works in some states, they put whatever is on your SS card on your ID… ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/5 "2008-09-25T17:53:33Z")
The Master [addressed](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1278/is-it-illegal-to-take-a-newborn-home-from-the-hospital-without-naming-it-first) this one. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/6 "2008-09-25T18:01:42Z")
Bill Pronzini’s “Nameless Detective” didn’t get a name until well into his fifties, so there you go. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/7 "2008-09-25T20:11:28Z")
In Norway you have six months after a birth or adoption to register a name for the child. If you haven’t done so by then, you can be fined, although in practice you will likely just get a reminder to file the freakin’ paperwork already. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/8 "2008-09-25T20:33:39Z")
My brother didn’t name his firstborn son for more than a month after he was born, though that wasn’t in a hospital, it was at a birthing center with a midwife. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/9 "2008-09-25T20:44:03Z")
I’ve seen plenty of Major Leage Baseball trades involving grown men who haven’t been named yet. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/10 "2008-09-26T02:26:34Z")
My mother was a head nurse in a pediatric hosptial and she said they would “encourage,” parents to pick a name, even going so far to lie to them and say “they must pick a name before the baby leaves the hospital.” But she said in truth if the parents leave there is nothing they can do, and they just submit the record of the birth as “baby boy” or “baby girl” plus the parents last name and let the parents deal with any local legal regulations ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/11 "2008-09-26T02:46:45Z")
I had a neighbor who’s baby was out of the hospital a good long time without a name. Eventually a social worker came around and said they had to give the baby a name. At a loss, the parents asked for suggestions. The social worker assumed this (Ukrainian) family was Mexican, and suggested “Rosita”. So now there is a little Rosita running around with her sisters Olga and Anastasia. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/12 "2008-09-26T10:14:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Bill Pronzini’s “Nameless Detective” didn’t get a name until well into his fifties, so there you go. Huh? He got a name? When?? Or do you mean “Nameless”? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/13 "2008-09-26T11:53:08Z")
Here in the UK the rules differ slightly depending on which part one is from. In England and Wales (as well as the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, come to that) a birth must be registered within 42 days of birth. In Scotland, it’s 21 days. When registering the birth, the child’s full name must be given. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/14 "2008-09-26T12:55:24Z")
We had a student at my school named “Baby Boy Something” He went by something else (I didn’t teach him, but I saw the roll sheet with his name on it). I am assuming his parents just never filed paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/15 "2008-09-26T13:02:25Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > We had a student at my school named “Baby Boy Something” He went by something else (I didn’t teach him, but I saw the roll sheet with his name on it). I am assuming his parents just never filed paperwork. :eek: I really hope none of his classmates ever found out about that… ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/16 "2008-09-26T13:36:41Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > When registering the birth, the child’s full name must be given. Not true (unless this has changed very recently). A child can be registered without a first name. [This site](http://www.thosedixons.net/certificates/births.html#COL2), by a UK registrar, states this clearly. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/17 "2008-09-26T13:50:24Z")
Pixilated: > [@](#): > > I’m going to take a logical guess and say that in these days you have to have a name for the baby before take them out of the hospital Absolutely not true, at least not on the national level. As the Orthodox Jewish father of three boys, I can assure you that I was 100% allowed to take each baby boy home two days after he was born, not to be named until his eighth day of life, at his Bris. We received birth certificates with no name on them, and no one at the hospital or elsewhere raised an objection to us. (you do need a name for the Social Security number, but you can get an SSN separately from the birth certificate.) gurujulp: > [@](#): > > I work for a city gov’t, and the vital stats people say that if you hold off more than 5 days (which is when the hospitals submit the paperwork to the county records dept) that you will need to go to court to change the name, and the birth cert will say ‘baby [last name here]’. Also not true, at least not everywhere. Maybe true for changing a name, but in New York City, for giving a name to an unnamed child, you just fill out a form, mail it in along with the original birth certificate, and you get back the modified birth certificate with the name on it. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-after-birth-can-a-baby-remain-nameless/465173/18 "2008-09-26T14:07:05Z")
> [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#): > > Not true (unless this has changed very recently). Actually, you’re correct. It’s more a custom that the names should be given, rather than actually having to, and it makes things much less complicated. The General Register Office says this: > [@](#): > > Can I change my child’s forenames? > > The law allows for a change to a child’s forenames to be added to the birth register, provided the new forenames were given either in baptism or by regular use within 12 months of the birth being registered. The new forenames may be added to the birth record after 12 months, but you will need to provide documentary evidence that the new forenames were in use within 12 months of registration. > > Other restrictions include: > > ``` > * forename changes may only be made once in the birth register – any later forename changes cannot be recorded. > * if your child has been baptised within twelve months of the birth registration, only the baptismal names may be added to the register. > * you must comply with any court orders in force about the naming of your child. > > ```