What's in a name?
I was intrigued a few years ago by a chapter in a great book I read called Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt, which explored the correlation between a person's name, and the type of life he or she leads. The author studied people with very strange names, such as a teenage girl named Temptress who was brought to juvenile court on prostitution charges. Was she trickin because she was named "Temptress" or was she named "Temptress" because her environment was one that would lead to trickin? Interesting stuff.
Anyway, I just read this article on Yahoo about strange names and it reminded me of Freakonomics...
Judge: Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do
Thu Jul 24, 5:41 AM ET
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.
Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.
The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.
"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."
The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.
In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.
Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.
New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.
Dude, I'm TOTALLY gonna name my first born, "Yeah Detroit!" I'm adding the exclamation point for pizzazz!
Anyway, I just read this article on Yahoo about strange names and it reminded me of Freakonomics...
Judge: Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do
Thu Jul 24, 5:41 AM ET
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.
Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public Thursday. The girl was involved in a custody battle, he said.
The new name was not made public to protect the girl's privacy.
"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name," he wrote. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."
The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her "K" instead, the girl's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.
In his ruling, Murfitt cited a list of the unfortunate names.
Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.
New Zealand law does not allow names that would cause offense to a reasonable person, among other conditions, said Brian Clarke, the registrar general of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Clarke said officials usually talked to parents who proposed unusual names to convince them about the potential for embarrassment.
Dude, I'm TOTALLY gonna name my first born, "Yeah Detroit!" I'm adding the exclamation point for pizzazz!
posted by Talia
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11:37 AM
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