# Would I run into any restrictions giving my kid an obscene name? (US) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540 "2004-11-24T22:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/81 "2010-08-23T13:35:46Z")
It was nice knowing you. ---
**Author:** ![Punisher\_11B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punisher\_11B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punisher_11B)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/82 "2010-08-23T13:54:19Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Don’t forget the PFC with the given name of “Sargent” > > My mother worked at a VA hospital where a vet. named “Paris Green” was a patient. > > And all the psuedo ethnic names. I went to basic training at Ft. Benning GA. with a Pvt Sargent. And our Drill Sgt. told us that in a few rotations before us there was a Major. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/83 "2010-08-23T16:32:13Z")
IIRc there was a news item a dcade or two ago about the parent in France who wanted to name their child “Cerise” (Cherry). This was not on the “approved list” and teh government refused to register the name. Not sure whether they have a list of approved names for immigrants. As to the OP, I would imagine at a certain point the child would be removed by child and family services for child abuse with the wrong name. Of course, if it was a valid ethnic name, that would be unlikely to happen. However, doing something that would cause problems throughout life would certainly be an indication of inadequate parenting skills. (There was a case in Canada somewhere of a parent who lost custody because her 5-yo went to school with swastikas drawn on her arm. In “Freakonomics” the author spends a lot of time discussing names and their impact - mainly “do black-sounding names hinder a person’s ability to succeed in life?” I guess literacy is an important requirement - he mentions one unfortunate young offender whose name was “Temptress”; apparently the mother had meant to call her “Tempest” but lacked the vocabulary skills or spelling skills. The judge observed that the name seemed appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/84 "2010-08-23T16:46:05Z")
> [@Seven](#): > > My real name is in fact Seven. I went to college with a girl named ‘9’, although that was her middle name if I recall correctly. She went by 9 most of the time although her first name was Wendy. Her brother’s middle name was ‘7’ I think. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/85 "2010-08-23T16:58:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > > [@Seven](#): > > > > My real name is in fact Seven. > > I went to college with a girl named ‘9’, although that was her middle name if I recall correctly. She went by 9 most of the time although her first name was Wendy. Her brother’s middle name was ‘7’ I think. Is that the same girl you mentioned in 2004? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/86 "2010-08-23T17:01:14Z")
Do zombies even _have_ names? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/87 "2010-08-23T17:08:33Z")
I’m thinking **Kikespic McNiggerwop** might be a little less troublesome than **Cuntfuck.** ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/88 "2010-08-23T17:09:29Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > > [@Telemark](#): > > > > I went to college with a girl named ‘9’, although that was her middle name if I recall correctly. She went by 9 most of the time although her first name was Wendy. Her brother’s middle name was ‘7’ I think. > > Is that the same girl you mentioned in 2004? Apparently so. The joy of zombie numerals. I didn’t read the whole way through the thread. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/89 "2010-08-23T17:26:36Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > I dated a fifth-grade teacher who had a boy in her class named **shithead** (pr. shi-THAYD). Although his parents were from India, he was U.S. born. I always wondered if anyone tried to talk them into, at least, a different spelling. > [@Bob55](#): > > I was just going to post this _exact_ same thing because my sister (at the time a 5th grade teacher) or a fellow teacher had a student with this exact name and pronunciation. Was this child you’re talking about in Orlando? > [@LorieSmurf](#): > > Apparently Shithead is not an uncommon Indian name. I’ve run across a couple of Shitheads in my career as a pediatric RN. It is rather shocking, but at least it’s pronounced Sha-Thaid. If any of these people are still members of this board, I demand solid, first-hand proof. I don’t believe any of your stories. First of all, the “Shithead” story is a common urban legend, and it is rarely connected to Indian ethnicity. Second, I know a lot of Indian people, and I have never, ever, ever, heard of “Shithead” as a given name, at all, not to mention “not uncommon.” (On the other hand, Dikshit or Dixit is a common family name in India.) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/90 "2010-08-23T17:36:02Z")
I recall reading a memoir by Marshall something-or-other who was an American diplomat during the cold war. He was attending a big state dinner in Moscow, and during the dinner chat realized all his table companions were high ranking red army people. They asked him how many men he had commanded during the war and he had to explain “Marshall” was a name not a rank. teh seating arrangements had been made so he would be outranked by his dinner companions… He says the Russians chuckled and made some comments about incompetent KGB people, then they had a nice conversation about other things. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/91 "2010-08-23T17:44:51Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > I’m thinking **Kikespic McNiggerwop** might be a little less troublesome… Not in England! That name makes it pretty clear that he’s a bloody Paddy! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/92 "2010-08-23T19:48:54Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > “CuntFuck McNiggerWop” An excellent band name. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/93 "2010-08-23T20:02:22Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > This has been very interesting, but no one has actually answered the OP. > The hospital surely cannot, on it’s own authority, refuse to put whatever the naming parent wants on the birth certificate. So how could any name, however ridiculous, be (officially) banned? > The aforementioned “Bagina”, while confusing to our somewhat silly societal mores, seems to be a “real” name. Are we to ban the name because it sounds like “vagina?” I know a guy who’s last name is Foote. Should we ban that? What about Harry? 😉 > Senator Harry Bagina. 😛 > Can anybody cite some law that restricts naming of one’s child? There is currently a case in NJ in which 3 kids have been removed from their home in part due to their names. > **[State removes Hunterdon County child named Hitler from home](https://www.nj.com/news/2009/01/state_removes_hunterdon_county.html)** > > Family gained attention after a grocery store refused to make a Hitler cake Other articles I have read indicate that the parents are mentally unstable and that was why the kids were removed, but the names were what flagged the case to the authorities. Also, Costco refused to make little Adolf Hitler Campbell a birthday cake with his name on it. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/94 "2010-08-23T22:03:18Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > [Langmaker](http://www.langmaker.com/ml0103a.htm): “France, Germany and Scandinavia all have lists of approved first names; a baby must be given an approved name, or the child will not be legally recognized.” > > [New York Times](http://www.iht.com/articles/542741.html): “Picked baby’s name? Not so fast, in Denmark.” Concerning France, not exactly, and besides the law has changed years ago. Originally, only first names appearing on the calendar of saints and names of famous people from the antiquity (allowing Jewish names and some others already in use like Cesar) were allowed. This evolved into allowing any name you could show existed (necessary in particular for immigrants using names from their country of origin). This control fell on the shoulders of the clerck keeping the birth registers who could or could not be anal about it ( this happened to one of my brothers, who had two first names refused in a row for his daughter). If you disagreed, you had to go to court, and the judges would decide to allow the name or not. Nowadays, it works the other way around. The clerck must petition the court if he thinks the given name is innapropriate for whatever reason, but you can make up names as long as it’s unlikely to be harmful for the kid. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/95 "2010-08-23T22:09:52Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > > [@Walloon](#): > > > > [Langmaker](http://www.langmaker.com/ml0103a.htm): “France, Germany and Scandinavia all have lists of approved first names; a baby must be given an approved name, or the child will not be legally recognized.” > > > > [New York Times](http://www.iht.com/articles/542741.html): “Picked baby’s name? Not so fast, in Denmark.” > > Concerning France, not exactly, and besides the law has changed years ago. Since the post was made 6 years ago, it may have been accurate at the time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/96 "2010-08-23T22:10:52Z")
Hmm…after checking the thread : would “zombie” be an acceptable first name for a kid, in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/97 "2010-08-24T00:39:07Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > > [@mangeorge](#): > > > > This has been very interesting, but no one has actually answered the OP. > > The hospital surely cannot, on it’s own authority, refuse to put whatever the naming parent wants on the birth certificate. So how could any name, however ridiculous, be (officially) banned? > > The aforementioned “Bagina”, while confusing to our somewhat silly societal mores, seems to be a “real” name. Are we to ban the name because it sounds like “vagina?” I know a guy who’s last name is Foote. Should we ban that? What about Harry? 😉 > > Senator Harry Bagina. 😛 > > Can anybody cite some law that restricts naming of one’s child? > > There is currently a case in NJ in which 3 kids have been removed from their home in part due to their names. > > [State removes Hunterdon County child named Hitler from home - nj.com](http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/state_removes_hunterdon_county.html) > > Other articles I have read indicate that the parents are mentally unstable and that was why the kids were removed, but the names were what flagged the case to the authorities. > > Also, Costco refused to make little Adolf Hitler Campbell a birthday cake with his name on it. Sort of. Although this story broke while I was in Iraq I followed it closely because the family involved lived in the next town over and the store that was involved was the supermarket I used. The story came out cause the father made a stink when the Shoprite (Greenwich NJ) refused to make the birthday cake. He was able to get the cake made at a Walmart in Easton PA. The father somehow thought he would get sympathy in the press. Or he is an attention whore. DYFS received multiple complaints of child abuse. They are obligated to follow up on all complaints. When they did they did not like what they saw. Last I had heard the children have not been returned to the parents. They were not removed because of their names. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/98 "2010-08-24T00:48:10Z")
[QUOTE=Seven] My real name is in fact Seven. [/QUOTE] > [@Aeschines](#): > > Man or woman? He’s a guy, as was assumed by the rest of the thread. Sorry to bust your [del]zombie[/del]Borg fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/99 "2010-08-24T03:46:24Z")
But tell me, why are you so curious, Two Dogs Fucking? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540/100 "2010-08-24T03:48:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > [QUOTE=Seven] > My real name is in fact Seven. > [@Aeschines](#): > > Man or woman? He’s a guy, as was assumed by the rest of the thread. Sorry to bust your [del]zombie[/del]Borg fantasies. [/QUOTE] I’m sure he was thinking George Costanza’s kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-i-run-into-any-restrictions-giving-my-kid-an-obscene-name-us/276540.md?page=6)