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[Opinions] Re: Naming laws
in reply to a message by Soul
That's so sad.I think people should be able to name their child what they want. Does that mean that a mother can't name her little girl Ashtyn?
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I actually don't think the law is that strict. If you can prove that it is a name you would probably be able to name the girl Ashtyn. For example I know that Puma has been accepted and that's not really a name.
I also know that somebody wanted to name their girl Brunst gnägg (meaning Heat neigh, heat= an animal that is in a state of sexual excitement and ready to breed) Thank God for the name laws in that case!
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Nope, she can't.I'm generally I very, very liberal person, but for some reason I'm a real conservative when it comes to names. I'm personally happy to live in a country with naming laws so I don't have to cringe at little Madisyn'leighs, Abcdes, and Tristyns ;-)
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As atrocious as some names can be, I don't find naming your child Ammbroezhia or McKinlinzlie child abuse by any means. And I LOATHE made-up, trendy, and kre8tyv names, but I surely don't think certain names should be outlawed for this reason. (Naming your child Satan or Shithead is another story...something that is seen as vulgar or offensive I think shouldn't be allowed, or there should be some guidelines maybe.) I can't imagine not having the freedom to name my child anything I want, even if that's something ridiculous like Abcde. :b Will she have a horrible life with that name? More than likely not. A little annoyance, surely, but it's not child abuse, imo, by any means. I still don't like it, but I don't think it should be illegal, either. (I feel that way about a lot of things, actually.)
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Ditto :)I'm pretty liberal myself, but I'm so happy we have some naming restrictions in the Netherlands, names can be made up, but 'absurd names' are refused. So I don't have to cringe so much either :D
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But what if there is a really pretty name that you make up and everyone you meet agrees with you? Could you at least use it for a middle name?
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I'm not sure. The laws aren't that strickt. I've heard of a number of people with more or less made-up names, too, so it's up to the officials to decide which names are too out there an which aren't. The point is to prevent parents' from giving their children embarrasing and ridicilous names, and to avoid possible confusion regarding the names (eg. surnames can't be given as first names so that it will not be confusing to tell which one of the names is the FN - excluding first names which are also used as surnames, of course).
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The trouble is . . .That if you give people the freedom to make up good names, you also give them the freedom to make up bad ones. Some countries aren't prepared to take the risk that parents will be sensible - for good reason! There are some words that should not be names.While we don't have actual laws, the Births, Deaths and Marriages section of Western Australia's Justice department is allowed to veto names it doesn't see as suitable. So there is a safety net here too.
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