It was an ordinary day. Reading a few online columns when I came across a story about baby names that have been banned around the world. I'm sure you have a friend or two who may have a rather strange or unusual name, but are the names unusual enough that they had to banned around the world? Thought I would give you an idea what some of the names might be and how someone could ever give the name to an innocent child that would have to live with it for the rest of their life. Seems that every country in the world has laws that don't allow specific names given to a child when they are born. The first one I found was the name "Messiah". Eight years ago a couple in Tennessee decided to name their child Messiah, but a state judge ruled that the couple couldn't name their baby Messiah, saying that the name should belong to Christ alone. The ruling was overturned in a higher court, since evidently there are no official rules banning religiously affiliated names in the United States. In Malaysia, the government does not allow certain names such as Chow Tow, which means smelly head, to be used as a child's name. A few years ago a judge in New Zealand ruled that a nine year old girl would become a ward of the court since her name was determined to be child abuse. The girl was named "K", but her real name was never listed. The court assumed guardianship of the girl and allowed her to change her name. In England there are very few laws that are based on naming a child. But, when one English mother decided to call her daughter Cyanide, an English judge made a ruling to forbid the name. If you live in Australia you may not give your child a name that is obscene, offensive, contrary to the public interest or established by repute or usage. You also can't call your child Ikea! There was no reason listed, but I'm sure it has something to do with the furniture company. In 1996 a couple in Sweden decided to give their son the name of Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvcl. Try and pronounce that name. The parents said it was pronounced Albin. The name was given to the child to protest against the government of Sweden which has very strict laws for naming children. In this case, the government told them they had to change the name. Didn't see what they changed it to, but maybe Albin would have been a good choice. In China you can't name a child after a computer key such as @, & or even %. One couple did try and name their child @, since that symbol in China is called "ai-ta", or "love him." Too bad...it wasn't allowed! In New Zealand another couple named their child "." which in New Zealand is pronounced "full stop." The government rejected that name. Now for something a bit different...in Denmark they don't have any banned baby names list, they have an approved baby names list which has about 7,000 names on it. So, if you live in Denmark, you will have one of 7,000 approved names. Iceland also has very strict naming laws. All names have to include letters that are in the Icelandic alphabet. One family named their son Duncan, but there is no letter "C" in their alphabet, so Duncan had to have his named changed. Having a child is tougher than you thought, at least in some countries. Seems that in some countries there may be quite a few people with the same name while in others their may be names that you might have trouble pronouncing. I guess that's what makes all of us so special. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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