According to this article some New Zealand parents looked at the ultrasound scan of their kid and said, “he’s for real” and decided to name their son “4Real”, but it seems to be against the law to use a number in a name.
They are now going to name him Superman.
So - what is weirder for a kid’s name - “Superman” or “4Real”?
I, for one, applaud their thoroughness. Many couples would be satisfied by merely giving their child an idiotic name. But they’re covering their bases by ALSO giving their child an idiotic nickname.
i hope to Og this story turns out to be a load of crap. Any kid who gets stuck with a name like that should get the opportunity to rename his parents and have it stick.
Cripes, ever since that stupid story hit the news, the previously-rational Mr. Del has been hinting that it would be a great name to consider should we ever have a child. He even thinks he’s being subtle by saying we should “consider” it, but I can see by his glazed eyes that he’s envisioning just going through the motions of “considering” it.
You know, the more I read about terrible baby names, the more I think that Germany’s laws requiring parents to give their child a normal name aren’t really all that bad. I mean, who would genuinely be hurt/have their creativity abbreviated in a significant way with such measures? And, as far as I know, they allow exceptions for “ethnic” families to give their children appropriate names. Whaddaya think, Dopers?
Depends how far they go. It would be a mistake IMO to have a list of ‘acceptable’ names, I think a system where the obviously ludicrous names are vetoed is sort of OK. As to what a ludicrous name is, it’s a case of we know it when we see it, which is what makes this a dodgy limitation to set. Different people have different definitions acceptable.
When a friend found out she was having twins, her husband immediately starting pushing for the names Clark and Bruce. He reconsidered when she pointed out the fate of Superman’s and Batman’s parents.