TGIF
From Reuters:
Really. Talk about ridiculous. I like the name, too. What do you think? (Thanks to shpilkes for pointing this one out and supplying the headline.)
An Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son "Friday" and ordered that he instead be called Gregory after the saint whose feast day he was born on..."We named him Friday because we like the sound of the name. Even if it would have been a girl, we would have named her Friday," the boy's mother, Mara Germano, told Reuters.
When the boy was about five months old, a city hall clerk brought the odd name to the attention of a tribunal, which informed the couple of an administrative norm which bars parents from giving "ridiculous or shameful" first names to children.
Really. Talk about ridiculous. I like the name, too. What do you think? (Thanks to shpilkes for pointing this one out and supplying the headline.)
posted by Martha at 5:42 PM
4 Comments:
That's too bad. As someone with a name that has become unusual for my gender, I'm a fan of unique names--like Apple and Moon Unit and Moxie Crimefighter and Pilot Inspektor. People assume it must be awful, but I bet the aforementioned end up loving their names.
In this case, it even has precedence, from Robinson Crusoe.
This reminds me of a an old Tom Lehrer bit about a fellow named Hen3ry where the 3 was silent.
http://www.casualhacker.net/tom.lehrer/evening.html#go
I agree that this is a bit sad that the state felt the need to impose their own values.
I'm mixed on this one: It seems parents ought to have individual freedom to name their kid want they want, sure. But what about the poor kid saddled with an unusual name? Studies have shown that kids with odd names have a harder time in life. (E.g., teachers gave lower grades to essays supposedly by unusually-named kids, compared with identical essays by commonly-named kids.)
And by the way, I'm guessing that this quote from Reuters: "Even if it would have been a girl, we would have named her Friday," the boy's mother, Mara Germano, told Reuters. was translated from Italian. But "Even if it would have been . . . " (emphasis mine) ??? Perhaps Reuters could use a translator who knows good English.
This seems to be a common thing for states to do, but it is easily remediated. For example, in Argentina names have to be Catholic. I was told that some people just get a name for the ID card and use the real name in daily life where it matters. The official name then becomes a sort of social security number.
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