Naming children - should the state step in?

crimresearch said:
Because your broad brush allows for absolutely *any* extreme, including names that would guarantee a mass of serious problems for the child long before adulthood.

The question has been asked, by what right do parents get to force another human being to bear the results of saying their name is the 'N' word, 'Kill All Jews', 'Slut', 'Retard', or other things that the autocensor won't allow here?
Click to expand...

Parents have the right to "force" their children to do all sorts of things. Until actual harm is demonstrated, I see no need for the state to get involved in determining what is or is not an acceptably conformist name.
 
ZirconBlue said:
Parents have the right to "force" their children to do all sorts of things. Until actual harm is demonstrated, I see no need for the state to get involved in determining what is or is not an acceptably conformist name.
Click to expand...
And you see no harm to the child with those or other extreme names?
 
ZirconBlue said:
Parents have the right to "force" their children to do all sorts of things. Until actual harm is demonstrated, I see no need for the state to get involved in determining what is or is not an acceptably conformist name.
Click to expand...
And where do you draw the line? Who gets to decide what's not allowed? "James" could be offensive to someone. Probably is, since it's my name.
I don't like the idea that some bureacrat in an office could decide that my child's name didn't meet the official state requirements. Even if it did cause you to be all-a-twitter.
Makes me want to go back and name my twins Hitler and Stalin just to spin up some people!
 
ZirconBlue said:
Your post makes it look like he changed his name, but the wiki link indicates that he just reverted to his birth name (Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones).
Click to expand...

Good, point. However, he was known as Zowie, from his birth, if I remember correctly; that's what his name was reported as in the press (before he had any choice in the matter), and he was known by that name until he was 18.
 
Also consider the difference between being the child of a wealthy celebrity going off to private schools with other children from similar backgrounds, and being sent to public schools with a name like 'Hitler'.
 
JimBenArm said:
And where do you draw the line? Who gets to decide what's not allowed? "James" could be offensive to someone. Probably is, since it's my name.
I don't like the idea that some bureacrat in an office could decide that my child's name didn't meet the official state requirements. Even if it did cause you to be all-a-twitter.
Makes me want to go back and name my twins Hitler and Stalin just to spin up some people!
Click to expand...

Well, according to a Bill Cosby routine, up until he was a teenager, he thought his name was Dammit, and his brother's name was Jesus Christ.
 
I'm not sure that the state should step in on naming. I am sure that the child has the right to consider the emotional pain from such naming when choosing the parent's nursing home.
 
crimresearch said:
Also consider the difference between being the child of a wealthy celebrity going off to private schools with other children from similar backgrounds, and being sent to public schools with a name like 'Hitler'.
Click to expand...
So a celebrity child won't be teased or hazed by other children? Really? And kids won't be teased for other names that might not be normal, but are family names?
And, once again, who gets to make these decisions? You? Your Aunt Pat? Uncle Rudolph?
 
JimBenArm said:
So a celebrity child won't be teased or hazed by other children? Really? And kids won't be teased for other names that might not be normal, but are family names?
And, once again, who gets to make these decisions? You? Your Aunt Pat? Uncle Rudolph?
Click to expand...

Exactly, about 55 years ago, some jerk politician from Michigan decided to saddle his newborn son with the ridiculous name of Willard and a middle name after a piece of sporting equipment. Clearly, such a name stigmatized him, and he never amounted to anything.
 
JimBenArm said:
So a celebrity child won't be teased or hazed by other children? Really? And kids won't be teased for other names that might not be normal, but are family names?
And, once again, who gets to make these decisions? You? Your Aunt Pat? Uncle Rudolph?
Click to expand...
Save the straw for someone who will fall for it.

Are you unable to address what I actually said?
 
bynmdsue said:
I think the state already has some say. I believe in the US you cannot name a child "5", but "Five" is okay.

But "bizarre names that expose a child to ridicule from peers"? Kids will make fun of almost any name.
Click to expand...

Kick in the nuts versus punch in the face.

Kids will make fun of any name, but they will make fun of wacky names exponentially more.
 
ZirconBlue said:
Who is to decide what constitutes a "burden"? Or, for that matter, "bizarre"?

Today's "bizarre" name can quickly become popular tomorrow, and more diverse names are a plus in my book.
Click to expand...

Then why not practice what you preach and go name yourself " **** face" ( not stating that as an insult, but rather it was the name most likely to get ridiculed i could think of with 15 minutes before i leave.) . Seriously, do you not see the crap this is going to pile on the kids?

Kids are not pets, they are people, and sticking one with a name like the one in the op, for at least 18 years, is just mean.
 
crimresearch said:
Because your broad brush allows for absolutely *any* extreme, including names that would guarantee a mass of serious problems for the child long before adulthood.

The question has been asked, by what right do parents get to force another human being to bear the results of saying their name is the 'N' word, 'Kill All Jews', 'Slut', 'Retard', or other things that the autocensor won't allow here?
Click to expand...

Let's be honest here. How often does that happen even when it is allowed?
 
I despair at some of the names children in my daughter's class have, and mentioned this to my father - contrasting it with the normal names of my classmates when we moved back to Scotland circa 1977. At this point my father revealed that names like "Darren", which I though commonplace, had actually been unusual and were just fashionable at the time (he blamed "Bewitched" for that one, BTW).

We also live in an area where Ivie or Ivy is a male rather than female, which just goes to show it's a funny old game.

Just to muddle matters further traditionally Gaelic speaking parents register their children's names as English translations (Norman instead of Tormod, for example, or Kenneth instead of Coinneach). That's why my legal name is ***** instead of *******.
 
Architect said:
I despair at some of the names children in my daughter's class have, and mentioned this to my father - contrasting it with the normal names of my classmates when we moved back to Scotland circa 1977. At this point my father revealed that names like "Darren", which I though commonplace, had actually been unusual and were just fashionable at the time (he blamed "Bewitched" for that one, BTW).

We also live in an area where Ivie or Ivy is a male rather than female, which just goes to show it's a funny old game.

Just to muddle matters further traditionally Gaelic speaking parents register their children's names as English translations (Norman instead of Tormod, for example, or Kenneth instead of Coinneach). That's why my legal name is ***** instead of *******.
Click to expand...
Is the "*" silent?
 
Travis said:
Let's be honest here. How often does that happen even when it is allowed?
Click to expand...
How often would be acceptable?

Being honest would require discussing the claim which has been has been made that the government should *never* tell people what to name their children under any circumstances. 'Never' automatically includes those names or any others.

We have zero evidence that people capable of creating children (which again, by definition includes them all... meth heads, white supremacists, severly mentally ill, et al.) will magically control themselves at any certain point on the naming spectrum. The OP documents 'Hitler' and 'Aryan Nation' from current events.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom