Cecil’s “classic” column debunking the myth of a baby-naming law left out another factor mitigating against the existence of such statutes: Jewish, and perhaps other, religious and cultural practices. Many Jewish families (especially Orthodox) prefer not to give their children names until the bris/brit (for boys) or the babing-naming (for girls), generally occuring on the eighth day after the baby’s birth. Any hospital that interfered would find itself on the wrong end of an ACLU suit so fast…
OY…
Just a comment, but I had heard that the fabulous skier, Peekabo Street, got her name at the age of 6 or something because that was her favorite game and that up until that point her (Hippy) parents had no name for her.
'Course, I thought it was an UL at the time, but who knows.
Cecil was right on the money, as far as New York is concerned. All three of my kids left the hospital without names and no one raised an objection.
In New York, however, the birth certificate must be filed within a certain amount of time after the birth (I think it’s a day or two). Since my kids were not named until after that time period expired, my wife and I had to have the names added to the birth certificate after the fact.
Zev Steinhardt
From the official Winter 2002 Olympics Page on Picabo Street:
Zev Steinhardt
How come they give you a certain period of time to file the birth certificate? And since you named them after the fact, I assume you handed in a certificate with no name on it (just birthweight, height, etc.). Why do they want you to submit the certificate in such a timely fashion, and if it’s because they need it for their own records, why do they allow you to hand it in blank?
Found this way interesting. It “wouldn’t work”? I wonder why the agent told the mom this; why couldn’t the mom have put down whatever she wanted to call the girl? I mean, after all, she was the mom…
**
In New York, the parents don’t file the birth certificate… the hospital (or maybe the doctor) does. If you don’t give them a name in time, they submit it with only a last name. It’s then up to the parents to fix it later.
Zev Steinhardt
Ah. Ok. Thanks.
Just out of curiosity, what would happen if you never gave them a name and changed it yourself later on? I guess it wouldn’t be on the official birth certificate, which could be a problem. But if you hypothetically didn’t fill in the certificate, and they submitted it with only a last name, and you then gave the baby a name on your own, would that cause unnecessary complications later in life? I remember that when I got my first job I had to show my birth certificate; what if my certificate wasn’t actually “correct”?
Not positive about all of China, but in Shanghai you are not allowed to leave the hospital until the baby is officially named in the birth certificate.
Other countries?
Hey, Zev, thanks for the clarification.
As for the NY naming thing, how do the parents “fix it later?” Do you ust go in and say, “Uh, yes, the birth certifiacte with only the last name, we’d like to do something about that.” What if you never go in? Is it possible for a child to legally never have an assigned first name?
NY’s Dept. of Vital Statistics (or whatever the silly bureau is named) has a form to add a child’s first name to the birth certificate.
As far as never going in, yes, it happens. I have a friend who never had a legal first name. Her parents simply never sent in the proper paperwork. Of course, she had a name (her parents gave her a Hebrew name, which was the primary name she used in school, etc.). When she turned 18, she went to the courts (just as one would if you wanted to change your name) and gave herself a first name (although why she chose “Courtney” I’ll never know…)
Zev Steinhardt
I heard that you HAVE to get a social security number for your child, so’s he or she can be numbered all the rest of their lives and on file with the government.
How easily could someone live without getting a s.s.n.?
Employment under the table?
Health care?
The trick with the social security numbers is: the feds won’t let you claim an income tax deduction for a dependent who doesn’t have a social security number, so if you want that deduction, the newborn has to get the number.
And trying to exist in this society without the number would be extremely difficult. Despite initial assurances that the number would not be used as a form of ID, both public and private organizations now demand it before they will render payments and services. Among other things, I have been required to furnish my SS number to obtain medical insurance, enroll my children in school and daycare, obtain loans and, of course, obtain legitimate employment. The other ubiquitous demand is for a driver’s license. I’ve been asked to produce mine to obtain medical services and loans. Geez - what did they do before the automobile???
Well, I live in the Montreal, Quebec, Canada. We have this government agency that oversees the naming of kids. If they don’t like the name you choose, they suggest you change it and can bring it to court. Here’s a little snippet on what happened in May of 1998.
Fascinating, isn’t it?
matt.f
I have a friend who was not named in the hospital. Her birth certificate read “Baby (last name)”. Years later when she was in her twenties she had to file for an official name change. All of her identification including her SS# had her as Baby. She decided she did not want this on her passport. As she had no identification with her name on it the made her file to change her name.
For the record all this was in Utah.
When in Scandinavia years ago, I met a woman who didn’t name her son until he was 8 months old. Her reason: she had to get to know him before she could give him a name.
To me, this is a fantastic system. Why decide on “Dirk” before a child is even born, only to discover that that moniker will be the property of a dark-haired, tiny, mewling creature? That is not to disparage either the name or the child–in fact, I just described myself–but to point out that names have as much baggage as anything else. (Nobody names their kid Adolf anymore, either.)
The woman I met mentioned that this is a fairly common occurence in Norway, where parents are required to register an “official” name by the child’s first birthday, at the latest.
I know that I’m going to get to know my kids a little before I name them, despite the fact that I have some names in mind–who doesn’t?
You have six months to register a name in Norway, not twelve. I know this because I know several families who cut things pretty close… If you don’t register a name within six months, technically you are subject to a fine, but it can take some time before the wheels of bureaucracy get moving on what is after all a minor issue.
We picked out names before the baby was born, both times. I liked being able to greet the boys by name when they were first laid on my belly.
looking at my U.S. Dept. of State birth certificate, I see that it was not filed until 30 days after I was born. I was born in Germany, but it was on a US Army base, and to two US Citizens, so US Law applied. So I’m fairly sure there’s no law (federal or military, at least) stating that a birth cert has to be filed before you leave the hospital.
While different states may have laws allowing you to change your name without any legal notification, if you are a pilot, and want to change the name on your certificate, you must submit a copy of either the marriage license, court order, or other document verifying the name change. (14 CFR 61.25). Seems like the Feds are a bit more hung up on it than the states.
Hey, flyboy, you know us pilots ask for that extra dose of governmental harassment just by stepping off the planet. How many other citizens have to report their health status to the federal government?
As a person with no middle name, I’ve stumbled across the “belief system” mentioned many times. It usually goes like this:
(inquisitor with pen poised, ready to write)“Middle name?”
“Don’t have one”
(writes) D-O-N-T-H-A-V- “Hey? No, really, what’s your middle name?”
“I don’t have a middle name”
“Whaddaya mean? You’ve got to have a middle name”
“Uh, no, I don’t.”
“But – Is that legal?”
“The Social Security Administration, the FAA, and the local DMV all seem to think so.”
“How about I just put an “A” or an “X” for middle initial?”
“No - that’s not my legal name”
“But I have to put something there!”
“No, you don’t.”
“Why don’t you have a middle name?”
“Don’t need one.”
Actually, if you’re applying for an FAA certificate you DO have to put something down - you write in “no middle name”. But the FAA, to be honest, gave me less stink than a lot of other places. All they asked is that I have valid ID to match what I claimed as my name, no verbal back-and-forth required.