are there any rules on naming children?
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
United States
July 18, 2008 9:12pm CST
this all spawns from an incident my hubby had at his work where he over heard a child being called a very demeaning and racist name and then when my hubby was being nice and asked the kid his name the kid repeated it like it really was his name.. so are there no rules in naming children?? i remember in the 80s there was some one not allowed to name their kid like 20 something number of letters because it was too long or something but do they have actual "off limits" as far as names?? can they?? and what about the people that make their names to where you cant even speak it? (aka prince)
and while we are at it give an example of the weirdest name you have ever heard of 
9 people like this
21 responses
@pheonixstar1982 (2307)
• United States
19 Jul 08
I think i heard something on the radio that there are limits. I cant remember what the person wanted to legally change there name to but they were not allowed to. My question is why would a parent do that to there child?
5 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
exactly!! and especially about the name i told you about
4 people like this
@bbjwlsn (263)
• United States
19 Jul 08
I think it is horrible when people name their children ridiculous names. I worked with a woman who had a daughter named Chevelle. I always thought that was a car! LOL I guess some people think it is cute to name their child some "catchy" name; for instance, last name Flowers - children named Pansy, Iris, things like that. Evidentally, they don't stop to think about the merciless teasing their child will go through. At the least, they should name them a "normal" name, and then use the "silly" name for a nickname.
4 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
yeah i definitely agree on the silly being the nicknames not actual names
4 people like this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
19 Jul 08
I don't know, but there probably should be some rules. I think tat there is some law hat a name can't be a number (you couldn't name your kid 1963 for example), and there are probaly others, but I am not sure. Thi is a good question, though.
4 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
hmm i didnt know about the number but thats a good rule lol..
4 people like this
@sconibear (8016)
• United States
19 Jul 08
many years ago, when i went to court to adopt my son, there was a kid there with his mom, he was still under age. he was having his name legally changed to "Ozzy Black Sabbath"
this was like 13 or 14 years ago.....i wonder if he has any regrets now.
4 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
hahahaha thats funny!! i bet eventually he does.. if not then hmm ODD!!
4 people like this
@rongchangzhu (82)
• China
19 Jul 08
In China when child born
their parent will consult the five elements
the five elements is the custom of China
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
im glad that isnt happening anymore just because how many mary's and marks can ya have?!?!?! lol.. thanks
4 people like this
@alindahaw (1219)
• Philippines
20 Jul 08
I think that people should use their common sense when it comes to naming their children. As much as possible, parents should see to it that their kids' names won't get them into trouble. Bad name choices can really be uncomfortable especially when you are in public. Just think of how uncomfortable your child would be when he or she goes to school and his or her classmates calls his or her name.
2 people like this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
19 Jul 08
I don't think there should be any rules about naming children...parents should have common sense and prudence when choosing a name for their child. Naming someone something demeaning just seems like a disgrace. How could parents do that?
Some places do have rules, because sadly they need them.
When trying to come up with a name for my daughter I came across this website which had me laughing so hard - it's got tons and tons of bad baby names:
http://notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html
3 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
19 Jul 08
I dont know if there are any rules about naming children,
but I suppose there are. I think the names must not be longer
than a certain length. The weirdest name I saw was on t
tombstone. Her name was Trouble McKinley and she was related'
to my gr gr aunt Augusta McKinley. Augustas grandmothers name was Grizzle McKinley. strange name for a girl.
3 people like this
@mscott (1923)
• United States
19 Jul 08
I heard in a show once someone say, you made them you name them. people give their children all sorts of weird or trying to be clever names. Unttil there are some limits on who should even be having kids I don't think you can hope to curb the unusual names they are giving.
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
25 Jul 08
true.. and i like the you made them you name them but apparently there are some cruel cruel people
@Humbug25 (12540)
•
19 Jul 08
Hi There moonlitmagikchild
I am sure there must be some sort of law to stop people from naming their children with obscenities but surely people wouldn't do that, would they? That would just be crude and pointless needless to say, cruel!
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
20 Jul 08
well this name was horrible!! and i would think there would be definitely a way to block that word but who knows.. maybe they came from a different country to where they could pull the name off.. god knows if the teacher does role call she could practically lose her job by stating his name
@saroj123m (29)
• India
19 Jul 08
Willium Shakespeare said " what is there in name , if rose is not rose ?" But what in my opinion is there is a lot in name . Name relects the character of a child. Nmaing a child , there are many factors to be looked in to. Parents always want there kid to be the best in the world in all fields and a good and powerful name , puts an impact in it. Thouhg there in no definite rule in naming a child ,still it is to keep in mind that it is going to be the X-factor in his/her life . So name and naming is an importatnt thing .
3 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
my best friend pheonixstar1982 above had just started a discussion on if certain names fit with certain personalities which i think they do.. i just hope that they do have some rules so that they isnt a whole bunch of kids being named evil things
3 people like this
@dookie03 (578)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Yea i totally believe ther should be some sort of naming law because this is their name for the rest of their lives. For example Gwyneth Paltrow named her kid apple. What the hell. Or the guy from my name is earl named his son Pilot Ejektor or something nutty like that. What's wrong with hollywood that they think they can do that and just ruin the kid forever. I mean that's their name! It'd be like some white trash family that names their kid shitstick or something. That's just wrong.
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
29 Oct 08
i know hollywood is awful!! her other kid is moses.. now thats a horrible normal name!!
@Ravenladyj (22904)
• United States
19 Jul 08
I'm not sure if there is an actual law in regards to it but if the kid was being honest then I suppose their isnt which really is stupid and cruel in many cases..I wonder though if a kid could sue the parents for cruelty or something like that if the name they gave was REALLY brutal ya know..I mean just think of all the suffering that person would go through not only as a child but in adult yrs too...
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
28 Oct 08
As a teacher I have heard some weird names during my career. Right now I have a student whose name is Habib. He is a Syrian living in my country. In Syrian it seems that Habib means my beloved while in maltese, habib means my friend. Ironically he is a loner and he does not have any friends. I always try to encourage Habib to make more friends.
.© ronaldinu 2008
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
29 Oct 08
thats weird that his name would mean friend and yet he is friendless.. usually people match their names
@jtr115 (722)
• United States
20 Jul 08
Sometimes parents unintentionally choose names which get their kids teased. I know that my parents wanted a nice Christian name for me, but I got teased because "John" is also a slang term for a toilet or a pimp. I later found out my first and middle name (John Thomas) is a slang term for the male genitals.
In addition to giving kids simple, decent names, parents shouldn't overload them with several middle names. A talk show I saw a few months ago featured a woman with 25 middle names, and one of her relatives had 44.
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
20 Jul 08
my hubby has 2 middle names because his dad didnt have any..
1 person likes this
@TessWhite (3146)
• United States
19 Jul 08
I doubt there are any rules about it. How could they enforce any? I've heard some stange names for sure over the years. There was the woman named Merri Christy, who was born on Christmas eve. Then the boy who's parents named him Blue Jay. And the co-worker who named her child February because she couldn't think of a name. Oh yes, and the strangest of all was the minister who chose his three children's names so they would be strong - Rock, Pebble and Stone. Puhleeeze
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
20 Jul 08
lmao i would think pebble wouldnt be strong.. if parents cant decide or think of something right away they can always wait till later.. thats what i would do rather than name him february lol
@kbjunior15 (1309)
• United States
19 Jul 08
There probably should be some rules, so that celebrities can keep naming their children after fruits (ex. Apple Paltrow, I think). Anyways, you won't please everyone. I am a white male. My 4 year old son is named Kobe Jordan after Kobe Bryant and Micheal Jordan. It upset a few of the older members in our family because unfortunately they are still prejudice. My great Aunt said that name wasn't fit for a dog when my wife told her his name after being born. This was the first time my wife meant my great aunt, too, and she didn't know what to say. I thought it was funny because that is what I would expect Aunt Betty to say:)
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
20 Jul 08
well this was a racial slur.. but yeah im sick of apple and coco and crap like that.. i dont see anything wrong with the name you gave him
@intimate36 (1415)
• Pakistan
19 Jul 08
there are no rules in naming kids.... i think so..The longest name I have heard are of ARABS... But there it the tradition,and usually people follow their own tradition while naming.
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
19 Jul 08
hmm i always have problems pronouncing long names which makes me feel silly but oh well.. im more into simple names i guess.. unusual but simple or simpler lol
