# No, you may not name your baby 'Messiah' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038 "2013-08-12T14:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/61 "2013-08-13T17:58:49Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Aryan Nation isn’t even a name… > > That’s like naming your kid “Buffet Dinner,” except way, way worse. Heh, I was going to say that devoid of context, I’d think it was kind of pretty. > [@Darth Panda](#): > > eta: If I was in charge of CPS, I would totally rename them “Walker” and “Texas Ranger.” Which probably explains why I’m not in charge of CPS… I’d go with “Martin Luther King” and “Yitzak Rabin”. Which probably is why I’m not in charge of CPS… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/62 "2013-08-13T18:12:13Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Aryan Nation isn’t even a name… Didn’t Dean Friedman write a song about Aryan? ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/63 "2013-08-13T23:35:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > For one thing, his nickname is going to be “Messy.” Yeah but that would only be an issue with Real Madrid fans. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/64 "2013-08-13T23:57:42Z")
I find “Messiah” tolerable. I wouldn’t choose it for my kid, but it could certainly be a lot worse. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/65 "2013-08-14T00:30:02Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I find “Messiah” tolerable. I wouldn’t choose it for my kid, but it could certainly be a lot worse. Yeah, “Messiah” actually doesn’t ring funny to my ears. To me, it just kind of blends in with similar sounding names like “Jebediah,” “Zebediah,” “Isaiah,” etc. (in addition to the “Jesus” and “Emmanuel” named.) Interestingly enough, I just checked the Social Security for “Messiah.” There are a reasonable number of dead Messiahs with Social Security numbers. [See here](http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=ssdi&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=ms_db&gsfn=messiah&dbOnly=_F00032DD%7C_F00032DD_x&uidh=000). I count about 30 odd dead Messiahs (not counting middle names.) . ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/66 "2013-08-14T11:53:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There are a reasonable number of dead Messiahs with Social Security numbers. Just out of curiosity, how many dead messiahs would be unreasonable? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/67 "2013-08-14T15:23:35Z")
You should subtract one, IIRC, one Messiah didn’t stay dead. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/68 "2013-08-14T15:50:00Z")
A few others were [screaming blue](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGZenzfg3A0), too. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/69 "2013-08-14T16:38:33Z")
I’ve delt with parents who named their babies after their dog, mamma’s nasty bits, and names made up from bits of other names. Is naming your baby King, Precious, Vulva or Myshyannne any better? Let the people give their babies stupid names. They may be in the top baby names for 2030, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/70 "2013-08-14T17:09:44Z")
This is stupid and blatantly unconstitutional. I think magistrates in Tennessee have to be lawyers, so she should have known (and obviously didn’t care) that she wasn’t allowed to do this for all kinds of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/71 "2013-08-14T20:01:44Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Could I name my child Shitstain Buttfucker Adolf Hitler Johnson III Well, if nobody objected to the first two, I doubt it would be a problem. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/72 "2013-08-14T20:39:36Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I’ve delt with parents who named their babies after their dog, mamma’s nasty bits, Mulva? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/73 "2013-08-15T01:02:53Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Mulva? Nice. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/74 "2013-08-15T05:49:01Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I don’t think its really worth such a fundemental abridgement of free speech as dictating to parents what names are “acceptable”. > . I’m not sure what it has to do with free speech. It’s only related to the rights of parents wrt their children. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/75 "2013-08-17T19:03:31Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I have to admit, I objected more to her saying the kid had to be named “Martin” than not allowing “Messiah.” If there is a right for a court to decline a first name for any reason, I would want the choice to be given back to the parents on what to replace it with. I agree. The judge was doubly arrogant. If she honestly felt that the child’s name was offensive, the least she could do would be let the parents choose a replacement instead of taking the step of naming someone’s else’s child yourself. That’s an outrageous step for the state to take. She has the power to choose the last name because both natural parents disagreed and the state has to be the decision maker. In this case, both parents agreed on the first name, but the judge simply changed it. I hope that not only is this reversed, but disciplinary action taken against the judge. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/76 "2013-08-17T21:10:39Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > The parents and the judge are equally stupid. I’d say the judge is a little less stupid, at least the judge had the kid’s best interests at heart. Wish a judge like that had been around when my cousin’s kids were being named. Well, the first three anyway, they actually gave #4 a normal name. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/77 "2013-08-17T21:23:34Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I’d say the judge is a little less stupid, at least the judge had the kid’s best interests at heart. Yeah, I’m sure the parents just wanted to make life difficult for their son, for kicks. And I don’t think the judge really cared about the kid, she cared about the fact that she considered it blasphemous. (And again, it’s a stupid name, but that’s not the point.) ---
**Author:** ![silvermist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@silvermist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silvermist)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/78 "2013-08-18T20:52:29Z")
I knew of a woman in MA who named one of her boys Messiah. My daughter went to school with him. The kids were ok with it in elementary school but I don’t know about later on. He also had a sister named Galaxie. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/79 "2013-08-18T20:56:28Z")
> [@silvermist](#): > > He also had a sister named Galaxie. She was named after a car? (Well, why not? I’ve heard of women named Porsche. Not Portia; Porsche.) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038/80 "2013-08-20T19:58:08Z")
> **[‘Jerusalem’ rejected as baby name](https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-rejected-as-baby-name/)** > > City hall in Belgium tells Israeli expat couple they can't name their daughter after their country's capital Nor Jerusalem [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-may-not-name-your-baby-messiah/666038.md?page=5)