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Forget domains, some countries tell parents what names they can pick for their child

December 30, 2016 by Raymond Hackney

Over the last 24 hours there has been a lot of discussion about what domains should or should not be allowed at Namescon. Conversations on both Namepros and TheDomains have led to some interesting debate, I think it has been respectful debate for the most part, which in 2016 has been rare if you followed the elections or social media.

If you think of yourself as PC or anti – PC, pro first amendment or don’t have an actual idea just what the first amendment really means, here is a look at name censorship around the world.

Did you know in some countries you cannot name your child what you would like to name them ? The government tells you if the name is allowed.

There was an interesting article on Mental Floss that looks into some peculiar laws around the world.

From the article:

4. GESHER (BRIDGE)

Norway is another country that regulates what parents can name their child. One Norwegian mother was sent to jail after failing to pay the $420 fine for using an unapproved name. She protested saying that she had been instructed to name her son “Gesher,” the Hebrew word for bridge, in a dream she had. 

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Sweden has notoriously strict naming laws. In 1982, a law was passed to prevent non-noble families from bestowing their children with noble names. Today the law vaguely states that “first names shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name.” In protest of the restrictions, one couple decided to make their child’s name a captcha code from hell. The name, pronounced “Albin,” was rejected. The parents later submitted the name with the same pronunciation but rewritten as “A.” That was rejected as well.

14. CHOW TOW (SMELLY HEAD)

By naming their child Chow Tow, which translates to “Smelly Head,” these parents were basically doing the bullies’ jobs for them. Malaysia published this in a list of banned monikers after receiving an influx of people applying to change their given names.

15. LINDA

In 2014, Saudi Arabia released its own list of banned baby names. Several of them, like “Linda,” claimed spots due to their association with Western culture.

17. MONKEY

Denmark is another country that requires parents to choose baby names from a pre-approved list. Parents need permission from the government to choose outside the list of 7,000 names, and each year approximately 250 are rejected. In addition to Monkey, the names Pluto and Anus also didn’t make the cut.

Read the full article to see many more examples of governments telling parents what is allowed.

Universities get in on the act

Lake Superior State University is Michigan’s smallest public university with an enrollment of about 2,500 students. They release a list of banned words every year.

China

In 2015 China banned 12,000 words. This tied in with names not allowed to be registered in the .xyz extension.

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Filed Under: Domaining 101, news

About Raymond Hackney

Raymond Hackney has been involved with domain names since 1997. One of the most prolific writers in the domain industry and founder of TLDinvestors.com and 3Character.com

Comments

  1. Traditional Christmas says

    December 30, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    With some exceptions, governments have to protect the newly born from the sheer stupidity of their parents.
    Sad…

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