This is now the world we inhabit: (I can't help but think who would want to burden their child with either name?)

"A mom and dad in Georgia are suing the Georgia Department of Health because they refused to let the couple give their daughter the surname "Allah."

Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk's baby girl is now almost two years old, and she still doesn't have a last name or a birth certificate. Their chosen name, ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah, was rejected by the health department. It said the law requires parents to choose the mother's last name, the father's last name or a combination of both.

Here's the catch: Handy and Walk's 3-year-old son was granted the last name with no problem. So was Walk's 16-year-old son from a previous marriage.

The ACLU of Georgia has filed a lawsuit against the Department, saying the decision is a "government overreach."...

In 2013, a Tennessee judge ordered a couple to change the name of their son, Messiah, because she stated the title had only been earned by Jesus Christ. The decision was overturned a month later and the judge was eventually fired after complaints her initial ruling was a judicial overreach.

Depending on where you live, your naming rights may be limited, but it is usually more about style and clarity than content, regulating things like numbers, pictograms, obscenities and diacriticial marks. In California, for instance, names cannot contain numbers or umlauts.

In other countries, however, naming laws can be a bit stricter. In Sweden, names cannot cause discomfort or be "unsuitable" like, say, Metallica or Superman. In Germany, names have to clearly indicate gender, and cannot represent an object or brand.

But in a country that values individual freedom as much as the US does, Young says naming laws should always lean towards parental agency."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/30/health/allah-name-rights-daughter-trnd/index.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2017 07:58AM by Amyjo.

"But in a country that values individual freedom as much as the US does, Young says naming laws should always lean towards parental agency."

And the poor kids have to live with their parents' narcissism.

Nice to know this virtuous guy is sprinkling babies into the world with multiple woman and giving such special consideration to their names...

My favorite kid name joke.

https://xkcd.com/327/

Gee Amyjo, did this gripping controversy keep you up all night? Has this been a pressing problem in the Recovery community?

Are all problems gripping, or pressing or keep you up all night, bobofitz?

What kind of knee jerk reaction is that?

It's religion related, and of parental interest. If you don't like the topic, don't read it.

Lighten up.

I didn't know there were different types of knee jerk reactions . . . . I guess I've been generalizing all this time.

But you've got my curiosity piqued . . . what kind do you think it may have been? :)

I was going to name my son, "F**k You, You Filthy Cop," But
decided against it.

My son used to joke about naming his firstborn "Buckethead."

How about naming your kid "Charley Willard Horse Dick?" After his father, Brian Dick of Spokane, Washington. That kid is going to either hate his parents for naming him that, or be like the boy named Sue, Johnny Cash used to sing about.

Life is stranger than fiction, no? ;)

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAn_znG3WQrMJ4Spytpi2C0xW9-he7loyvIPhs4g5tlMvL69dC_g

Reminds me of the twin daughters of a man with the last name Hogg. He named them Imma and Ura

Okay, I feel really bad for those girls.

Poor kids.

One, don't believe everything you read on the internet, there was at least no "Ura Hogg" and Ima's life wasn't too bad...

"Hogg was the daughter of Sarah Ann "Sallie" Stinson and James Stephen "Big Jim" Hogg, later attorney general and governor of the state. Ima Hogg's first name was taken from The Fate of Marvin, an epic poem written by her uncle Thomas Hogg. She endeavored to downplay her unusual name by signing her first name illegibly and having her stationery printed with "I. Hogg" or "Miss Hogg". Although it was rumored that Hogg had a sister named "Ura Hogg", she had only brothers.

...

"The discovery of oil on her family's cotton plantation made Hogg very wealthy, and she used this income to benefit the people of Texas. In 1929, she founded the Houston Child Guidance Center, which provides counseling for children with mental health problems or diagnoses and their families. Through her brother's will, she established the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin in 1940. Hogg successfully ran for a seat on the Houston School Board in 1943, where she worked to remove gender and race as criteria for determining pay and established art education programs for black students. Hogg never married, and died in 1975. The Ima Hogg Foundation was the major beneficiary of her will, and carries on her philanthropic work today. Several annual awards have been established in her name, honoring her efforts to preserve cultural heritage in Texas."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima_Hogg

Not to shabby, even with having to deal with her name.

Very cool. So Ima was for real, Una was not.

Neat story on Ima! :)

Who's on first, What's on second, I-dont-know's on third.

Mexicans like to name their kids Jesus. which I think is embarrassing. But what I don't get is all these post mellenials getting named last names for first names. like Madison, Jaxon (spelled wrong on purpose). Grayson, Tyson, Lincoln.

And of course there are all the nitwit parents naming their kids Roman names when the kid is English like Mia, Olivia, Sophia, Magdalena.

I even know of a Utah millenial who named their son Hudson, which is not just the name of a river, but a last name as well. At least, they didn't go with a cre8tive spelling on that name.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2017 05:50PM by adoylelb.

Hudson's different. Hadn't heard that one before. :)

Names sort of take on a life of their own over time.

Grayson, Tyson, Madison are fairly popular first names right now. One of my step-nephews sons is Jackson. Cute as a button. Looks just like his papa did when he was little.

Mia, Olivia, Sophie? Pretty normal aren't they? I didn't realize they were Roman. Mia Farrow, Olivia Newton-John aren't Italian. I know Olivia is of German/Welsh descent. Not sure about Mia.

Sophia Loren, she's Italian. Still gorgeous after all these years.

Magdalena was my gggrandmother's name. She was Scottish. :)

We're talkin' 200 years ago when she was born/lived.

I loved picking out baby names for my children. It was like a calling to find the perfect name for each child. Names are pretty diverse, as you point out.

Now for Jesus. I didn't know before working in a call center that Jesus is pronounced "Hay-su." When I would call my customers whose names began w/Jesus, before my co-workers corrected me I started my calls w/ "Is Jesus there?" The contact might say "Who?" And I'd repeat, "I'm calling to talk to Jesus."

I'd hear my colleagues tittering around me. It did sound pretty funny. Then when they corrected me, I understood why it sounded hilarious to them. :)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2017 06:02PM by Amyjo.