Friday, February 22, 2008

How not to name a child

A Swedish couple has been fined for failing to register a legally approved name for their seven-year-old child, who is presently called “Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116″ (pronounced “/?al?bin/”).They’ve offered to change the kid’s name to “A,” but the Swedish government says that won’t do, either.

Because the parents (Elizabeth Hallin and an unidentified father) failed to register a name by the boy’s fifth birthday, a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden, fined the parents 5,000 kronor (US$682 at the time). Responding to the fine, the parents submitted the 43-character name in May 1996, claiming that it was “a pregnant, expressionistic development that we see as an artistic creation.” The parents suggested the name be understood in the spirit of ‘pataphysics. The court rejected the name and upheld the fine.

The parents then tried to change the spelling of the name to A (also pronounced /ˈalˌbin/) instead. Once again, the court did not approve of the parents' ideas for naming because of a prohibition on one-letter naming.

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