Thursday, August 09, 2007

R THEY 4REAL?

I think parents, no matter how dumb they are, have a right to choose the name of their children, as long as it's not really sacrilegious or perverted. Here's an interesting story:

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand couple is looking to call their newborn son Superman — but only because their chosen name of 4Realhas been rejected by the government registry.

Pat and Sheena Wheaton say they will get around the decision by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages by officially naming their son Superman but referring to him as 4Real, the New Zealand Herald newspaper has reported.

The Wheatons decided on the name after seeing the baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realizing their baby was “for real.”

They decided 4Real was the best way to write it, but the name was rejected because the registrar said a name had to be a sequence of characters.

Pat Wheaton said he was considering appealing against the decision through the courts, but whatever happens he won’t be budged on his choice.

“No matter what, it’s going to stay 4Real,” Wheaton told the Herald, “I’m certainly not a quitter.”

A spokesman for the Department of Internal Affairs, which operates the registry, told the Herald discussions with the Wheatons about their son’s name were continuing.
The baby is now 2 months old. The Wheatons first applied to register his name in late June.

* * *
Here's some other interesting facts on naming kids:

French parents must choose baby names from an approved list. The laws are designed to prevent teasing. (OK, like this is going to stop all kids from being mean to other kids. Come on.)

Germany has laws against naming children Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden. (This one I get. I really do. Why start a kid out with a name based on some of the most terrible people in the world?)

New Zealand isn't the only country to restrict names. Sweden refused to allow a couple to name their daughter Metallica, after the rock group above, in April. (This one I don't understand. Can people not name their kid Marilyn Manson cuz he's a weirdo too?)

Singer Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. named his daughter Nevaeh -- that's "heaven" spelled backward -- in 2001. Its popularity grew faster in the United States than any other name in the past century. (Well, if he's choosing the opposite of Heaven, do they call her Hell for short?)

One Michigan boy and one Texas boy have been named ESPN after the sports network based in Bristol, Conn. (Does it sound like Espen? That would be OK.)

In the United States, "You can't use a four letter word that I wouldn't use in this interview," a sociologist said, "and other than that you're free to do what you want." (Awww, shit.)

Anyway, if they want their kid to be 4Real but they aren't allowed to use a number in the beginning, why not just spell it For Real? For real.

What are your thoughts and what's the stupidest baby name you've ever heard?

36 comments:

mamashine said...

My grandmother was an L&D nurse and one time the OB came out and told her to go in there because it was her job to talk this woman out of what she wanted to name her twins:

She was not very educated and had been reading hospital pamphlets, and her choices were "si-phyllis" and "ga-nore-iah". 4real.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Kelli--YOU ROCK!

Judy said...

I heard about an family in our area...during the census, and when they asked the mother her daughter's name, the woman said, "Fa-ma-lee." The census taker said, "Mrs. Smith, that's an unusual name. Where did you get it?" Mrs. Smith said, "Oh, the doctor gave it to her."

"The doctor?"
"Yessir... when they brought her to me, she had a wristband on and the doctor had already named her."

The "name" on the wrist band was "Female Smith"....

Anonymous said...

Or what about the Mexican woman who gave birth to twin boys:

Hose A

and

Hose B

domestic_valerie said...

This is all I have to say...http://wesclark.com/ubn/

And being a baby named in Utah, I got off pretty lucky having been named after a cartoon character.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Sooo many Utahian names! (Did I just make up that word? Utahian?)

Jenster said...

When I worked for a lawyer in SoCal about 20 years ago (am I really this old?) one of the plaintiffs who was suing our client had two daughters - Emeraude and Enjoli - like the old perfumes?? Clever, no?

Monnik said...

Kelli- That's funny!! Reminds me of this: My last name is commonly mispronounced as "Rhea". We wanted so, so, SO badly to name our son Connor, but when you put it next to the way most people pronounce our last name, it sounded like 'gonorrhea' so we named him Jake. :D

Matt said...

no wonder people think the french are sissies. they don't have a single boy named sue in the whole country!

i used to keep a list of odd-but-real names when i worked as a reporter. my absolute favorite was this little old lady named Eutoka Piper (pronounced "you toke a piper").

B. said...

Well, being an expectant mother, I have a lot to say on this topic. I am BY NO MEANS an expert. This is just my opinion. People are dumb. Yes, everyone wants their child to be unique. So, how about rather than giving them a stupid name like 4Real,raise them to be kind, polite, fun, and loving which in today's world would make the child fairly unique since kindness and politeness are going down the drain. My husband and I have obviously been thinking of names since we found out we were expecting. We've looked back through our family trees and also just listed names that we like the sound of. Since noone here knows me personally, I'll share. My mother-in-law asked me about names this week and I refused to tell her yet. :) Girl names: Lilian, Clara, Emma, Ella, Rachel, Isabella. Boys: Jonathan, Luke, Benjamin, Jacob, Noah, Samuel, and Grant. Please tell me those names are better than 4Real.

B. said...

Wow! That last comment was really long. Oops! Manic, just wanted to let you know that I have checked out BabyZone, thank you for sending me there. :)

Stephanie J. Blake said...

For real?

Yikes.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Jenster--better than White Linen and Red Door, right? Hee hee, or not?!

Monnik--that is HILARIOUS!! Reminds me of a story of a girl named Connie Lingus...

Matt--Eutoka must have been one unique lady!

B--Love your choices, glad you can share them here. Of course, Luke is my choice for a boy! Love all the girls' names, especially Ella, Clara, Emma.

And speaking of girl names, I JUST AS IN TWO HOURS AGO became an aunt again, to a beautiful little girl named, Madeleine Grace!

She is the baby sister to her big brother Ethan! Soo cool!

Monnik said...

Congrats, Auntie Manic!!!

Unknown said...

I once met a pair of hispanic twins named Orangejello and Lemonjello. Seriously spelled that way and everything! They were pronounced "orANjelo" and "lemANjelo". I would never have believed it if they hadn't been my ex-MIL's students.

And congrats on being an aunt again!

TTQ said...

I know a 20 something named Atlas and he was raised by a group of street performers that travel throughout the world. He recently made his home here and doesn't travel anymore like he did growing up but still it's a cool name.

K J Gillenwater said...

This is a fun topic! I have two things to say...One, NEVER share baby names before the baby is born with anyone but your husband. You will get more advice, reactions, etc. than you ever wanted in your life. We kept both baby names a secret until they were born, and then the MIL or whoever could say NOTHING. If they hated it, well, what could they say? You already named the baby that particular name. Shuts everyone up really quick.

This is the worst trio of girls' names ever:

Jeighdeane (JAY-DEEN)
Reighdeane
Neighdeane

Yes, NEIGHdeane. Like a horse! Some I knew worked with the "Jeighdeane."

Jess Riley said...

I heard of a woman with the last name of King naming her son "Nosmo." As in, "No smo king." Get it?

Also, my sister asked me, as godmother, to contribute a middle name for her son. (The godfather has to also pick one.) The kid's going to have two middle names. This is too much pressure!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I've never commented before, but this is one of my favorite topics! I am a child psychologist and have been compiling a list for the past few years of some of my favorites...
Immfunke (pronounced "I'm funky")
Alize (yup, after that cheap, bright blue liquor)
and my all-time best...
Bow3Qua (which is pronounced just as it looks, I guess that "no numerals" rule doesn't apply here)

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Monnik--thanks for the auntie congrats--I am soo psyched. I just went to Macy's and bought seriously, EIGHT BABY GIRL OUTFITS FROM THE SALE RACK. The total bill--THIRTY-FIVE FREAKING DOLLARS!!!

Can I shop or what? They are the cutest littlest outfits! I also got her a monogrammed blankie cuz I love monogrammed blankies!

Andrea--were lemonjelo and orangelo's last name SHOTS? hahahah

TTQ--I think Atlas is a cool name. I wonder if he stands real tall and yells, "I'm on top of the world!!!!" Isn't there a Greek god named Atlas that holds up the world?

Kristin-- I KNOW A NAYDEEN! I think she spelled it Nadeen. I also knew a Daneen (Dah-Neen)... and my M-I-L's name is LODEEN... her nickname is Load... is that not horrible to bel called that!??!?!

Jess--I Think you need to give your nephew a middle name of Larry!!!! Whadda ya think!??!!

Anon--thanks for commenting for the first time--I love when new people come out to say hi. And Bow3Qua... I keep saying that over and over out loud, "Whutup, I'm Bow3Qua! Kinda cool in a hip-hop rap kinda way!

Patti said...

4reeeeaaaal?! ~sing-songy voice used~

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Don't forget to beat-box after saying it... 4Real, ....

cubmommy said...

That is so weird your MIL is Lodeen.

My mom's name is LouDeen. It is my grandpa's middle name and my grandma's middle name.

Congrats on being becoming an Aunt again!

eatmisery said...

I once had a female student named Fellatio. I am not kidding.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Cubmommy--wow--too ironic! My MIL's not named after anyone. Her mom saw the name in the paper and remembered it and liked it.

Eatmis--I cannot even come up with a reply to that, and believe me, I was trying to think of something clever! OH, I know... did she make it to the Head of the Class? Bah dum dump!

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Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I've been lurking but I wanted to post since this is such a funny one. I went to school with a boy named Peter Pan, who won the award for best attendance. And I know a couple with the last name Case who named their son Justin. I know someone named Helen Oh so everyone calls her Hello. I think that one is cute, but she hates it. So as someone else said, it's not just the first name people need to consider but the last one also!

This was a really interesting post!

Anonymous said...

I met a little girl named Texas once, not a cute name at all and this was up in Canada. Her mom had her dressed in a Don't Mess with Texas shirt, so I'm sure it's easy to find stupid souvenirs for her when in Texas. But wouldn't you be worried your kid would be called Tex or Lone Star or something.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

I bet she had a large supply of that same t-shirt in different colors!

Trenting said...

My mom had a list too from waaaay back when she worked for a dr. Lysol being one of them.. OMG..They thought it sounded pretty or were obsessive about cleaning maybe..

Sally T said...

Up until 2000 I was a police officer and there was one area I worked where there were two lads (Independent of each other) who's names were Ronald McDonald and Michael Mouse. These were their genuine names and they were always getting into trouble with us. This was not helped by the fact that whenever they were stopped by a copper that had not come across them before that copper would think they were taking the mickey when they gave their names.

Sugarmama said...

I vivdly remember a little girl named Gemini back in the '70's when I was a little kid. She had a t-shirt that said, "My name is Gemini. No, it's not my sign."

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I just came across a FANTASTIC one...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/oukoe_uk_china_language

How 21st century!?!

Liane Spicer said...

Congrats on your new auntie-hood, Manic.

I don't understand how people can do this stuff to innocent babies. I taught at the high school this girl attended and the principal was always paging her on the PA system: Sherry Whisky.

Cecily R said...

I graduated with a girl named Anna Recksic. No kidding. She would always introduce herself as "Anna Recksic, not Bulimic" Sadly she was NOT thin.

There was also a Cotton (girl), Sunshine, Sunny Raye and a Robert Roberts in my graduating class.

Anonymous said...

Actually Neighdeane was the mom, Reighdeane, Jeighdeane and Chrisdeane (not positive on all the spellings) are the 3 daughters who are really awesome people and I have known them for years. I've always thought how unique and different their names were, especially being linked to one another. I have a somewhat normal and average name just like Kim, Kelly or even KRISTIN. No fun, nothing unique or memorable. I think the greatest part about having a child is being able to give them something neat and different to use to introduce themselves to the world with. All 4Real and superman craziness aside, encouraging our children to be individuals is important. Encouraging them not to judge others is REAL important. In the words or my 8 year old daughter "mamma, what would it be like if everyone copied everyone else?" my response.."Boring" or course. Peace be with all :)