New Zealand's banned baby names...

[cybele]

I remember the Adolf Hitler kid... didn't it come to light after the parents ordered a birthday cake with this name on it?

 

[Xero]

Yeah, I think that was it. I wanted to google it to find the article, but I was too lazy. lol

 

[singledad]

I agree. I don't get why people have to be told not to give their kids names that will make their lives a misery. Really, a child is a human being, not your property! I don't get people deliberately using funny spellings either. Who wants to go through life having their name constantly misspelled/mispronounced?

 

[TabascoNatalie]

I think using exotic foreign words or foreign soap opera characters as names is just fine. Why would you want to impose a government list on something as personal as a name? How is it hurting anyone? We can't all be Hans. Apparently the name "Brianna" is banned over there. I wonder how a German Brianna would hurt their national identity.

1. Different languages have different pronounciation of certain sounds. A name which sounds all fine in english or spanish, can sound quite quirky in other languages, or sound like words that mean other things.

2. In countries where majority of population are ethnically homogenous, foreign first names sound very "out of place" in terms of language, traditions, and compatibility with last names.

3. Some nations are very scared of globalization

4. Some people are just... Stupid. They hear a foreign word, without knowing the language, assume it could be a name. Let's say i don't speak english, and i think Table sounds nice for a girl... :smile:

 

[cybele]

Oh, now that brought back memories of when I was 14 and we were writing a short story in English and a girl in my class named her male protagonist Pieuvre, she was going on and on about how it was the name of a handsome Frenchman, until our French speaking teacher pointed out that pieuvre is French for octopus.

Very funny, but thankfully it was just in a schoolgirl's story.

 

[Xero]

I agree. I don't get why people have to be told not to give their kids names that will make their lives a misery. Really, a child is a human being, not your property! I don't get people deliberately using funny spellings either. Who wants to go through life having their name constantly misspelled/mispronounced?

Can't agree more. And my name is like that, I mean its not horrible and people get it right like half of the time, but I wish all the time that my mom had just spelled it RIGHT it would have made my life so much easier. I like my name, just not the spelling.

 

[yunihara]

Haha, well, its true. In countries like Japan or China, some English names that are harmless in English speaking countries can be dangerously close to curses or terrible slang (I can't think of any right now). I do know that "Becky" is perfectly fine name in America or Britain, but in the Phillippines, "Becky" is slang for a gay man. Or so my Filipino friend has informed me lol

 

[akmom]

Let's say i don't speak english, and i think Table sounds nice for a girl...

It is kind of pretty. It's like a cross between Tabitha and Mable. And if you don't speak English, then presumably you don't live in an English-speaking country. So what's the harm?

I personally like the creative spellings, as long as they are decipherable. I know an Emma-Lee (instead of Emily). I know a Jakob (instead of Jacob), although I find myself pronouncing it Yah-kob in my head, because that's how it's pronounced in "Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease," which I'm sure the parents DID NOT have in mind! I also think it's clever to use an X in names that traditionally start with a Z. Of course there are hideous spellings like Beonka (instead of Bianca), but I suppose it's just a matter of opinion. As long as it works phonetically.

 

[TabascoNatalie]

It is kind of pretty. It's like a cross between Tabitha and Mable. And if you don't speak English, then presumably you don't live in an English-speaking country. So what's the harm?

I personally like the creative spellings, as long as they are decipherable. I know an Emma-Lee (instead of Emily). I know a Jakob (instead of Jacob), although I find myself pronouncing it Yah-kob in my head, because that's how it's pronounced in "Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease," which I'm sure the parents DID NOT have in mind! I also think it's clever to use an X in names that traditionally start with a Z. Of course there are hideous spellings like Beonka (instead of Bianca), but I suppose it's just a matter of opinion. As long as it works phonetically.

1. All depends on context. Your language, your nationality, place where you live, and/or your religion, also the origin/meaning of the name. These things must be considered and respected.

2. In each context there are hundreds, if not thousands of "appropriate" names available. Plenty of choice? But no, there is a sort of people "oh, our baby's too special for that, therfore need to come up with something extraordinary (=absurd)". In that case, i really don't mind government or else putting a foot down. Human children deserve "human" names

3. If people really want to invent something "very extraordinary", why don't they change their own names into that? at least they won't have to go to school and get bullied for such inventions.

4. Myself i have a name with weird spelling. And all the time i have to explain to people that Natalija is Natalia, not Nataleedjah. Annoying

 

[Avianmosquito]

And Lucifer is a perfectly nice sounding name, meaning "light" or something. Kind of a cross between Lucius and Christopher. Who is the government to attach baggage to it?

In the Bible, "Lucifer" was the original name of "Satan" before he rebelled against "God." They probably don't want a child to be named after the antagonist of a very popular franchise. It would also be a bad idea to name your kid "Vader", "Voldemort" or "Sauron."

 

[cybele]

You know, somewhere in the world there is bound to be a child named Voldemort. Harry became such a popular name after that franchise took off, someone was bound to do it.

 

[Avianmosquito]

You know, somewhere in the world there is bound to be a child named Voldemort. Harry became such a popular name after that franchise took off, someone was bound to do it.

I'm sure there is, but I still think it's a bad idea.

 

[SheliaWilkerson]

Voldemort, this name has been associated with evil..i think too that it is a bad idea to name a child with a name