Metallica, the baby

[7/4]

from the NY Times:

Baby’s Name Rocks Swedish Tax Board

Metallica may be a swell name for a heavy-metal band. But for a 6-month-old Swedish girl? The decision by Michael and Karolina Tomaro to give the name to their child has led to a clash between them and the Swedish tax agency, The Associated Press reported. Ms. Tomaro, 27, said yesterday: “It suits her. She’s decisive and knows what she wants.” Although Metallica has been baptized, the Swedish Tax Board, which approves names, maintains the population registry and issues personal identification numbers, has refused permission, saying Metallica was associated with the rock group and the word “metal.” The Tomaros appealed to the County Administrative Court in Goteborg, which ruled in their favor on March 13 and also noted that a woman in Sweden already has Metallica as her middle name. The tax agency has appealed, frustrating the family’s travel plans. “We’ve had to cancel trips and can’t get anywhere because we can’t get her a passport without an approved name,” Ms. Tomaro said.

[mikelz777]

Conan O'Brien mentioned this story on his show tonight. He said that the parents and their first child "Whitesnake" were very disappointed with the decision.

Edited April 5, 2007 by mikelz777

[Jim Alfredson]

Seriously though, I thought the Swedes were liberal? Let the people name their kid what they want... who cares?

[Aggie87]

Seriously though, I thought the Swedes were liberal? Let the people name their kid what they want... who cares?

Some of the European countries have traditionally had registries of names that were considered acceptable. I'm not sure if it has actually been law to have to select names from the registry or not though. Deviating from those names seems to be difficult.

Here's a story from Germany in 2002:

Couple try to name baby bin Laden

September 5, 2002 Posted: 1:44 PM EDT (1744 GMT)

BERLIN, Germany -- A Turkish couple living in Germany who want to call their child Osama bin Laden have been refused permission by German officials but are to appeal to a judge.

Names can only be registered in Germany if they fulfil certain criteria. A name must clearly identify the child's gender and must not ridicule the child or be offensive.

"Hitler" is banned as a name for that reason.

Registrations officials in Cologne, where the young couple live, rejected the name because it would not be allowed in Turkey, a spokeswoman for the magistrates court now dealing with the case said on Thursday.

"Another reason was the obvious association of the name with the terror attacks of September 11," she said.

The German rules on babies' names also say that non-German parents must give their children names that are acceptable in their home country.

However, registration officials do not have the power to ban the couple from using the name of the al Qaeda leader for their child and the case has been referred to a judge.

The parents, both under 30, have been asked to make a statement to the judge, the spokeswoman said.

She declined to comment on whether the couple had other children and what their names were.

The United States blames al Qaeda and its leader, Saudi-born bin Laden, for the September 11 attacks.

[J Larsen]

I think the gov is trying to do that baby a favor.

[Aggie87]

Interesting subject...

What's in a Name?

Reuters Feb 23, 2006

LISBON - If Shakespeare wrote Portuguese birth certificates today, he might pen, "A Rosa by any other name is unacceptable."

He might add that Magnolia smells sweet, but that Jasmine, or Jasmim in Portuguese, had best be some other name. If you're still flummoxed about what to call your baby, he might suggest a search under "nomes" at www.dgrn.mj.pt.

Excluding obvious options, like Joao and Maria, the Ministry of Justice Web site details 39 pages of legally acceptable first names, from Aarao to Zuleica, and 41 pages of unacceptable ones.

Lolita, Maradona and Mona Lisa are out, as are Guevara, Marx and Rosa Luxemburgo.

Portuguese registrars have played this role for nearly a century, but now some have asked the Ministry of Justice for a new law that consigns name lists to history.

Portugal is just the latest nation grappling with the increasing complexity of baby names. Globalisation, immigration, human rights and individualism have put pressure on nations with name laws to redefine the concept of "acceptable."

The Portuguese proposal by the Association of Registrars of the Civil Register is part of a programme to cut or simplify burdensome procedures. The Ministry of Justice plans to act in the first half of 2006 on that programme.

"We have proposed alterations in the law such that there can be freedom of choice as long as it isn't offensive to the idea of human dignity," said Maria de Lurdes Serrano, registrar at one of Lisbon's busiest registry offices.

To parents from places with few restrictions on names, like the United States or Britain, such laws can seem odd.

"It was so amazing to me to have to get permission to name my child," said Tanya O'Hara, an American who in 2004 gave birth to baby Liam in Portugal. "It doesn't make any sense."

O'Hara had to get an embassy letter authenticating the name Liam, and make a certified translation of the document.

Name Laws and Freedom

Portugal is not alone in seeking to update name laws. In 2002, Norway replaced its list with a general standard that bans swear words, sex words, negative names and sicknesses.

"I can tell you this is not easy at all," said Ivar Utne, a professor of modern Norwegian at the University of Bergen and the only linguist on the committee that drafted the new law.

A Danish law, that takes effect on April 1, expands approved lists to include names from the United States, Europe and other countries, and allows parents to apply for unlisted names.

The Swedish parliament has commissioned the government to overhaul its Personal Names Act of 1982.

Spain has several name lists, corresponding to regional languages like Catalan and Basque. Registry offices in Germany have an "International Handbook of Forenames," updated in 2002. Argentina has broadened its lists to accept indigenous names.

Even countries without explicit laws have implicitly acceptable names. U.S. census data shows 757 names cover 75 percent of the nation's 295 million people.

Regulated or not, baby names can hurt, experts say.

"What it does is handicap a kid who has to deal with it," said Albert Mehrabian, a University of California professor emeritus of psychology and author of "Baby Name Report Card: Beneficial and Harmful Baby Names."

Some parents are capable of labours of lunacy. Portugal's reject list includes Ovnis. OVNI is Portuguese for UFO.

Danish authorities nixed Monkey and Lucifer. Mehrabian knows of an American named Latrina.

But even conventional names matter.

Mehrabian found people respond differently to names; children with more attractive names are more popular; people with less attractive names fare worse in school and work.

"I believe in freedom," he said. "But if (name regulation) has worked for Portugal for all these centuries, who knows?"

Traditionally in Portugal, parish priests selected saints' names at baptism. The first name law, enacted by the fledgling republic in 1911, replaced priestly whim with a modern regulation that applied to all citizens.

Modifications have allowed names from antiquity and allowed foreigners and non-Catholics to use names from their traditions, as long as they can prove they are authentic ones.

A Portuguese proverb says, "A good name is better than riches." But good name laws can be tricky.

Governments generally like to separate forenames from surnames and boys' names from girls'. There is also the legal swampland of "suitability." In Sweden, the name Twilight had to go to the Supreme Administrative Court before winning approval.

Germany's name law generates so many unresolved questions that there are expert "name offices" in Wiesbaden and Leipzig.

"I receive more than 3,000 questions about forenames every year," Gabriele Rodriguez, from the name office at the University of Leipzig, said in an e-mail.

She provides expert opinions for registry offices and courts and says 40 percent of her queries from German parents are about American forenames.

In Portugal, unresolved questions end up with Ivo Castro, a professor at the University of Lisbon. Castro uses onomastic dictionaries, Web sites and even phone listings to decide.

Since he put approved names on the Justice Ministry's Web site, queries have fallen from around 250 a year to 50.

"Sometimes I feel a lot of difficulty knowing how I can avoid being arbitrary," he said. "In those cases, the most prudent is to make a recommendation for authorisation."

[Big Al]

from the NY Times:

Ms. Tomaro, 27, said yesterday: “[The name Metallica] suits her. She’s decisive and knows what she wants.”

That ain't the Metallica I know.

[Rooster_Ties]

Well, with a name like that -- she'll probably need to go into therapy at some point -- which sure sounds like Metallica to me.

[zen archer]

How about the Baby formerly known as Metallica .

[Jazzmoose]

A Danish law, that takes effect on April 1, expands approved lists to include names from the United States, Europe and other countries, and allows parents to apply for unlisted names.

Oh, goodie; 'Shithead' and "Nosmo King" are fair game!

[B. Clugston]

Metallica will be about as hip as Styx by the time this kid can talk. Kind of like if my parents named me Bill Haley.

[Noj]

Metallica is already about as hip as Styx.