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Icelandic teen's name rejected by govt. Her legal name is now "Girl".
Iceland teen known legally as ‘girl’ fights to get her name backIt turns out the 15-year-old's given name, Blaer, is not on the Icelandic government's approved list of names. She's now identified as 'girl' on official documents. Her mother had no idea the name, which means 'light breeze' in Icelandic, wasn't on the list. She’s suing the government to get her daughter’s name back.
Blaer Bjarkardottir, 15 (l.) and her mother, Bjork Eidsdottir on Sunday in Reykjavik.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2013, 8:56 AM
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Call her the girl with no name.
A 15-year-old is suing the Icelandic state for the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother. The problem? Blaer, which means "light breeze" in Icelandic, is not on a list approved by the government.
Like a handful of other countries, including Germany and Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be named. In a country comfortable with a firm state role, most people don't question the Personal Names Register, a list of 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names that fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules and that officials maintain will protect children from embarrassment. Parents can take from the list or apply to a special committee that has the power to say yea or nay.
In Blaer's case, her mother said she learned the name wasn't on the register only after the priest who baptized the child later informed her he had mistakenly allowed it.
"I had no idea that the name wasn't on the list, the famous list of names that you can choose from," said Bjork Eidsdottir, adding she knew a Blaer whose name was accepted in 1973. This time, the panel turned it down on the grounds that the word Blaer takes a masculine article, despite the fact that it was used for a female character in a novel by Iceland's revered Nobel Prize-winning author Halldor Laxness.
Given names are even more significant in tiny Iceland that in many other countries: Everyone is listed in the phone book by their first names. Surnames are based on a parent's given name. Even the president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, is addressed simply as Olafur.
Blaer is identified as "Stulka" — or "girl" — on all her official documents, which has led to years of frustration as she has had to explain the whole story at the bank, renewing her passport and dealing with the country's bureaucracy.
Her mother is hoping that will change with her suit, the first time someone has challenged a names committee decision in court.
Though the law has become more relaxed in recent years — with the name Elvis permitted, inspired by the charismatic rock and roll icon whose name fits Icelandic guidelines — choices like Cara, Carolina, Cesil, and Christa have been rejected outright because the letter "c'' is not part of Iceland's 32-letter alphabet.
"The law is pretty straightforward so in many cases it's clearly going to be a yes or a no," said Agusta Thorbergsdottir, the head of the committee, a panel of three people appointed by the government to a four-year term.
Other cases are more subjective.
"What one person finds beautiful, another person may find ugly," she acknowledged. She pointed to "Satania" as one unacceptable case because it was deemed too close to "Satan."
The board also has veto power over people who want to change their names later in life, rejecting, for instance, middle names like Zeppelin and X.
When the artist Birgir Orn Thoroddsen applied to have his name legally changed to Curver, which he had used in one form or another since age 15, he said he knew full well the committee would reject his application.
"I was inspired by Prince who changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and Puff Daddy who changed his to P. Diddy and then Diddy with seemingly little thought or criticism," he said. "I applied to the committee, but of course I got the 'No' that I expected."
On his thirtieth birthday, he bought a full-page advertisement that read, "From February 1, 2006, I hereby change my name to Curver Thoroddsen. I ask the nation, my friends and colleagues to respect my decision."
"I can understand a clause to protect children from being named something like 'Dog poo,' but it is strange that an adult cannot change his name to what he truly wants," he said.
Thoroddsen is keeping his protest to the media. But Eidsdottir says she is prepared to take her case all the way to the country's Supreme Court if a court doesn't overturn the commission decision on Jan. 25.
"So many strange names have been allowed, which makes this even more frustrating because Blaer is a perfectly Icelandic name," Eidsdottir said. "It seems like a basic human right to be able to name your child what you want, especially if it doesn't harm your child in any way."
"And my daughter loves her name," she added.
I know many American names that I would like to be rejected by the government. | |
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Uh they have a list of names you are allowed to choose your child's name from? That's hard for me to get my head around. Why? | |
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Wow, just wow. | |
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Stories like this is why I'm glad our government here in the states isn't THIS controlling... | |
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Influenced by Prince  !Yes the rest was rather weird  mailto:www.iDon'tThinkSo.com.Uranus | |
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They instituted an approval process for names in Honduras a few years back, but that's because Hondurans are prone to give their kids CRAZY-ASS names.
One example cited...a boy given the name Usmail.
This after their parents visiting here saw it on the side of a truck; U.S. MAIL
By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! | |
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it should control it. within sensible limits
some freaks called their child "GoldenPalaceDotCom Silverman". for cash. a sick marketing move by some casino. that is child abuse, plain and simple, by irresponsible parents. it is the duty of the goverment to protect them
and some peeps in Sweden tried the name Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116
sick fucks need to be controlled, I see no problem with this
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. | |
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to make it clear, I should be able to change my own name to whatever I want. but a child that can't decide on its own needs protection. If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. | |
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Blaer has my vote.
I actually like the sound if her name. 99% of my posts are ironic. Maybe this post sides with the other 1%. | |
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I like it more than Bjork! My Legacy
http://prince.org/msg/8/192731 | |
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I think the name Blaer is lovely and in this case, because her name was missed as not being on the list, it should be approved.
Girl? Seriously? I thought ish like this was why they had an approved names list in the first place. I'm firmly planted in denial |
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In some countries it's to keep you from naming a child after someone who was less than stellar in character in history, like for example, here in Germany no one is going to name their kid Adolf Hitler.
In some cases it is to prevent the confusion from naming someone something completely bizarre like "Stank", "Pussy", or I guess, for more finicky countries, something as abstract as " Light Breeze". | |
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I don't see how "Blaer" is not allowed to be used though... [Edited 1/7/13 9:26am] | |
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I wouldn't consider myself as a conservative, but I guess I have shades of conservatism because the idea of the government having that much control is a little unnerving to me. I mean kids in the State get named some wacky things and maybe it's isn't the wisest decisions the parents can make but seriously the idea of needing Big Brother's dictation, whoa. | |
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In this case, I doubt if someone was anti-government, it wouldn't be fair to think it's a liberal or conservative thing, especially concerning this. In this case, the girl had been known as Blaer for 16 years. Now all of a sudden there's a rule that she can't use it because it's not in their name book? That's just ridiculous. I understand weird names but c'mon... | |
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another freaky thing about this story is that they have 32 letters in the alphabet - but no C
no c no chips no crisps no cherries no candy no coffee no chocolate no chucky no cocks no cum
mailto:www.iDon'tThinkSo.com.Uranus | |
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yes, I agree, "Blaer" should be allowed. while lets say "Cocksuckingnazipig" should NOT be allowed. as I said, a few minimum limits need to be in place IMO If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. | |
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I mean it's one thing if they say a name like Bitchass or whatever shouldn't be allowed. But Blaer? | |
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Blær is definitely NOT a curse word. I think child protection laws should be enough to prevent parents from naming their child something embarassing, no need for a special committee. And yes the letter C isn't part of the Icelandic alphabet - personally I don't care if someone's name starts with a C since there are many immigrants in my country that keep their names when moving to Iceland, regardless of whether the names fit Icelandic grammar - so why shouldn't native Icelanders be able to have "foreign" names as well? [Edited 1/8/13 10:32am] | |
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I read the article too fast and didn't read that part. | |
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My Legacy
http://prince.org/msg/8/192731 | |
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I wonder if he legally changed his name to that after watching the Family Guy parody of Bill Cosby. | |
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Because Iceland has some of the most clear and easy to follow family lines in the world (maybe the most) and a very small indigenous population. This isn't anything new, the name lists have been around for a very long time. Most people, as stated in the article, don't have a problem with it because they have huge amounts of pride in their nation and their heritage. All of their children's last names are still done as son and dottir off the father's first name, too, I believe. So if I had a daughter she'd be Cerebusdottir, a son would be Cerebusson. So the choice of first names for them are like the lineage of a last name for people in most other countries.
That being said, it seems like maybe they should make it a bit easier to add normal, inoffensive names to the name list
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“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.” | |
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If it's been around for a long time, then why is it becoming a news issue in the current times? lol Then again most "breaking news" stories seem to be ancient-sounding anyways. | |
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I'm sure there has always been a few people who are against it. But in this modern 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour news cycle, where EVERY story in EVERY small corner of the world is INSTANTLY available for the rest of the world to read and comment on, things like this get noticed more easily. Especially in a place like America where our individual heritage is constantly getting blended with somebody elses and we give our children all kinds of wacked out names without thinking twice. | |
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That's the one thing about the internet: everything comes out as once. | |
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That's why I hate going on news sites because when you search for an article, they always got these side news stories and they distract from your original intention of viewing a topic.
Duuude! You know what I do? I do a right click and open in new tab, keep reading the story I was there to read, then go back to the distracting stories later. | |
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I use my Time Warner handbook to cover that side. | |
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