|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Government out of control? Or just protecting our national heritage?
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
Blær Bjarkardottir of Iceland is not legally allowed to be Blær, because Blær is not on the registry of 1,853 allowed girls' names allowed by Iceland's government.
I read in a different story (which of course I couldn't re-find; sorry) that they won't make an exception, as they sometimes do, in this case because Blær is a masculine noun and it makes no sense for a girl to have a name that's a masculine noun, now does it?
Is this just too much? Should the government prevent children from getting stupid names (anybody remember "Lulu Does the Hula in Hawaii"?)? Should the rest of the world butt out of Iceland's internal affairs because we just don't understand the way they have been doing things for 1300 years?
I'm inclined to think they're a leeeetle anal about this and need to lighten up.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Horseman Bree
Shipmate
# 5290
|
Posted
But then, you live in a society that values individuality above just about anything else, while they live in a society that has functioned smoothly as a form of community (apart from a recent banking problem, exacerbated by certain individuals who looked after themselves too well) for over a 1000 years.
There might be some evidence of cultural difference, which makes it NOYB
--------------------
It's Not That Simple
Posts: 5372 | From: more herring choker than bluenose | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Horseman Bree
Shipmate
# 5290
|
Posted
Double-posting to add that we had a girl through the local school here, graduated two years ago, who was named Blair, after her grandfather.
She would probably have been much better off with a different name, given some of her defensiveness.
Seems that I agree with the Icelanders.
--------------------
It's Not That Simple
Posts: 5372 | From: more herring choker than bluenose | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
|
Posted
Iceland, a small place of 300K people, does not use last names the way the English world does. Blær Bjarkardottir is just that, daughter of Bjarka. The the first name matters in a way it doesn't in English.
Quebec had the reverse problem, women may not change their last names on marriage. In French Quebec there are only 1,200 family names in circulation. In a province of 6.5 million people the amount of redundancy is enormous and marriage switching makes it worse. So you get what you get at birth and that's it.
Stop snickering, the average French Quebecois family before 1960 had 10 children. It had been that way for generations. Welcome to French, Catholic Quebec.
--------------------
NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002
|
Posted
The Swiss also have an approved list of names-seems like a cultural thing that, likely is lost on those of us who come from not only individualistic new world countries but also culturally diverse societies.
In Victorian England, there were no doubt many children who wished the government did control names as shown in this horrible histories sketch.
Vile Victorian names
Posts: 2871 | From: "A capsule of modernity afloat in a wild sea" | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
|
Posted
Iceland is far from unique, even amongst European countries. A BBC article from a few years ago mentions that Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Portugal and Germany all have pretty explicit regulations while the UK's rule is imply that names must not cause offence. New Zealand and Argentina do so too.
--------------------
"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Blær Bjarkardottir of Iceland is not legally allowed to be Blær, because Blær is not on the registry of 1,853 allowed girls' names allowed by Iceland's government. ... I'm inclined to think they're a leeeetle anal about this and need to lighten up.
If they have government-approved lists of names for babies, they're definitely more than a little anal, and they probably like it that way.
I think bestowing uniquely spelled names on our precious snowflakes is mostly a North American pop culture phenomenon.
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
MSHB
Shipmate
# 9228
|
Posted
In a language like Icelandic, which has grammatical gender, it could be confusing and odd to give a girl a name which is grammatically masculine. Do you refer to the girl as "she" or "he"? Either may sound odd for different reasons.
English hasn't had that feature for about a thousand years, so it may be a little difficult for us to sympathise.
[ 04. January 2013, 23:53: Message edited by: MSHB ]
--------------------
MSHB: Member of the Shire Hobbit Brigade
Posts: 1522 | From: Dharawal Country | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
|
Posted
She's gotten to fifteen seemingly without getting permanently scarred by teasing over her name. And now they want to call her "girl"? How is hat supposed to help?
And besides: Elvis is okay but not Blær?! ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
--------------------
"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Augustine the Aleut
Shipmate
# 1472
|
Posted
I recall my Icelandic friends telling me that when Vladimir Ashkenazy became an Icelandic citizen, a special law was passed to permit him to retain his Russian name. Normally, when one becomes an Icelandic citizen, one changes one's name to Firstname Patronymic (I would be Agustin Jakobsson) and loses the surname. Note, by the way, that the daughter took the mother's name as a matronymic-- I had two Icelandic friends who used matronymics, one because his father did not participate in his upbringing and, for the other, she cheerfully noted that her mother was not sure of the identity of her father. Generally, the only Icelanders with surnames are the descendants of Norwegian or Danish merchants or officials-- I think between 5-10% of the population. The only exception which comes to mind is the writer Halldor Laxness (the only notable Icelandic RC I know of).
They are quite concerned about linguistic purity and there is a neologism commission to ensure that technical or loanwords become properly Icelandicized: e.g., telephone became simi, the webs spun by a spider in Norse mythology, radio became utvarp, and so on.
While I would not call them anal, they are certainly focussed (obsessed, if you prefer) on their language. Reading this news item did not surprise me in the least. Unless people have changed from my visits years ago, I suspect that a very large majority would support the government on this.
Posts: 6236 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
|
Posted
Microsoft tried to remove support for Icelandic from Windows and its associated programs due to cost ten years ago. The Icelandic government hit the roof, they thought in the age of computers that it really would delete their language, they'd lose all the yoof.
They offered to pay for the support, and finally had to shame Microsoft.
English is a common second language and Microsoft wanted to trade on that.
The sent the President of Iceland on an official embassy to Seattle and everything.
--------------------
NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
Lots of countries have rules about names.
Many celebrities should be sent to those countries for parenting lessons.
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Anyuta
Shipmate
# 14692
|
Posted
Russians also use patronymics, although these days along side of a family name. I think the situation with a Russin moving to Iceland wouldn't be the patronymic per se, but rather the islandification of that patronymic.. So Nikolai Ivanovitch Popov would probably have no real problem dumping the popov, but would likely find it odd to become Ivanson.
In any case, while it seems a bit anal to me to make it a matter of law rather than custom, it's an issue of their culture, and thus really something for them to sort out internally.
Side note..I had no idea Blair was a male name. I know several Blairs all of them female.
Posts: 764 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
And then there's not allowing names with "c" because there is no "c" in their "alphabet." I wonder if they strip keyboards imported into the country to remove the naughty keys?
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
|
Posted
Every language has a different keyboard layout.
-10 points, O dweller underneath the Onion Dome. Does Father VAsily Vasilyvich not type?
--------------------
NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
Every language has a different keyboard layout.
-10 points, O dweller underneath the Onion Dome. Does Father VAsily Vasilyvich not type?
-100 points, oh SPK, for missing the point.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
|
Posted
Seeing as the point never landed on its target....
--------------------
NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif)
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
SPK is right. Because when keyboards are imported into countries with different keyboard layouts, either they ARE changed, or they were made correctly for that county to begin with.
Are you going to go to Germany and rail against them for having the temerity to change their QWERTY keyboards into QWERTZ ones?
What about the AZERTY keyboards in French-speaking contries? You realise YOUR keyboard is missing a bunch of symbols they need in French? How dare you not have them, you English-speaker!!
And as for Russians expecting people to write in Cyrillic...
[ 05. January 2013, 06:52: Message edited by: orfeo ]
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
|
Posted
The Americans are fine ones to talk, I mean, who in their right mind would name a child 'Mousethief'? ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
--------------------
Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
|
Posted
You realise you could have chosen any nation on earth (or the nation of origin of any poster on the thread) to make that joke but it just happened to be America, again, odd that ...
[ 05. January 2013, 09:17: Message edited by: Doublethink ]
--------------------
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
|
Posted
It's one of the very few reasons I can refuse to baptise a baby - "wrong name."
Fly Safe, Pyx_e
--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
|
Posted
There was a registrar being interviewed on R4 yesterday who said that she does have a limited power to decline to register a name that is offensive, and also that UK Christian/First names can't have apostrophes in them, something I'd never heard of or even thought of before (why would anyone want to put an apostrophe in a name?). So presumably that allows 'de Ath', but rules out 'Death' or 'd'Ath'.
There was a row a few years ago from France about parents who wanted to give their child a Breton name which wasn't on the approved list. Apparently the French law dates from the Revolution, when there was a fashion for demonstrating one's revolutionary fervour by giving babies bizarre names like 'Georges Guillotine tous les aristocrats Pompidou'.
One would have thought that with 1,853 approved names to choose from, this mother is being a bit silly to insist on the right to give her daughter a 1,854th.
--------------------
Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
You realise you could have chosen any nation on earth (or the nation of origin of any poster on the thread) to make that joke but it just happened to be America, again, odd that ...
Well, MT is the OPer...
--------------------
Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
You realise you could have chosen any nation on earth (or the nation of origin of any poster on the thread) to make that joke but it just happened to be America, again, odd that ...
Well, MT is the OPer...
Oh good. I'm glad I'm not the only who instantly thought that the remark, being about Mousethief, had to be about an American.
And Doublethink, before you suggest that a country didn't have to be mentioned at all, that's exactly what this thread IS: a person saying "oh look at what they do in that other peculiar country".
[ 05. January 2013, 11:24: Message edited by: orfeo ]
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
There was a row a few years ago from France about parents who wanted to give their child a Breton name which wasn't on the approved list. Apparently the French law dates from the Revolution, when there was a fashion for demonstrating one's revolutionary fervour by giving babies bizarre names like 'Georges Guillotine tous les aristocrats Pompidou'.
Shit, you know it must have been serious if the French revolutionaries considered it important enough to curb certain displays of support for the revolution!
--------------------
If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
|
Posted
I used to live next door to a Breton couple who were working in the UK. They both had very ordinary French first names, but when their daughter was born, they were delighted that they would be able to christen her Nolwen (or possibly Noluenne), because the rules about using Breton names had been eased.
--------------------
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Horseman Bree
Shipmate
# 5290
|
Posted
There is the case (in the US, I have to mention as a point of accuracy) of a child being christened Ne-a (pronounced "Nedasha)
Just think how many times the poor sod is going to have to spell and respell his name, and how many governmental and employment agencies will refuse to believe him.
Makes one yearn for simplicity.
--------------------
It's Not That Simple
Posts: 5372 | From: more herring choker than bluenose | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
|
Posted
Au contraire, Double-Think, I only mentioned the American thing because Mousethief happens to be American and because someone further upthread had made a comment about US society - rather like ours - stressing the individual over the collective ... whereas in Iceland they take a different tack ...
If Mousethief had been from Serbo-Croatia I'd have made the same crack.
If you'd been making similar points to Mousethief, I'd have written, 'Well, people in the UK can't talk, who in their right minds would call their child Double-Think?'
I mean, c'mon ... get over it already.
If you're going to 'call' me on any instance where I happen to mention America then I'm going to start developing a persecution complex.
It might not have been the most humorous remark in the world but it hardly counts as US-phobic.
--------------------
Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
|
Posted
You should try having Welsh Nationalists for parents. I am called by 2nd (often bodged) name because only the Welsh can pronounce my first name. Damn you Mum and Dad. LOL.
Fly Safe, Pyx_e
--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sergius-Melli
Shipmate
# 17462
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Horseman Bree:
There is the case (in the US, I have to mention as a point of accuracy) of a child being christened Ne-a (pronounced "Nedasha)
Just think how many times the poor sod is going to have to spell and respell his name, and how many governmental and employment agencies will refuse to believe him.
Makes one yearn for simplicity.
Although not quite so bad, IRL my first name is double barrelled (hyphonated, whichever you wish to say) no matter how many times I tell the government and show them my Birth certificate they still fail to put the hyphon in...
Posts: 722 | From: Sneaking across Welsh hill and dale with a thurible in hand | Registered: Dec 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
|
Posted
Anecdotes suggest there is a link between "unconventional" names (or unconventional spellings of names) and presentation rates at Accident & Emergency for children. I expect that anecdotes will exaggerate this (a nurse will be more likely to remember asking how to spell a name like Pyx-underscore-e than a conventional name like John) but I've heard this murmured from a number of people in the medical and social service worlds that I would like to see some proper non-biased study into this.
It would be an absolute bitch of a study to conduct (privacy, ethics, how to define an unconventional name, how to tell the difference between a strangely-spelled 'normal' name and a different name completely) but if it's true it could be very useful for enabling better targeting of support services for children at risk.
--------------------
If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
que sais-je
Shipmate
# 17185
|
Posted
As a child I recall being told that Praise-God Barebone had a child called If-Christ-had-not-died-thou-hadst-been-damned Barebone (Dammed Barebone for short). And now Wikipedia tells me the child was called Nicholas (not even Old Nick), though the DNB has a (possible) brother of that name and another called Christ-came-into-the-world-to-save Barebone.
Sergius-Melli should be grateful his parents weren't Fifth Monarchists!
--------------------
"controversies, disputes, and argumentations, both in philosophy and in divinity, if they meet with discreet and peaceable natures, do not infringe the laws of charity" (Thomas Browne)
Posts: 794 | From: here or there | Registered: Jun 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sergius-Melli
Shipmate
# 17462
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by que sais-je:
As a child I recall being told that Praise-God Barebone had a child called If-Christ-had-not-died-thou-hadst-been-damned Barebone (Dammed Barebone for short). And now Wikipedia tells me the child was called Nicholas (not even Old Nick), though the DNB has a (possible) brother of that name and another called Christ-came-into-the-world-to-save Barebone.
Sergius-Melli should be grateful his parents weren't Fifth Monarchists!
I shall praise God everyday for this small blessing!
Posts: 722 | From: Sneaking across Welsh hill and dale with a thurible in hand | Registered: Dec 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
Anecdotes suggest there is a link between "unconventional" names (or unconventional spellings of names) and presentation rates at Accident & Emergency for children. I expect that anecdotes will exaggerate this (a nurse will be more likely to remember asking how to spell a name like Pyx-underscore-e than a conventional name like John) but I've heard this murmured from a number of people in the medical and social service worlds that I would like to see some proper non-biased study into this.
It would be an absolute bitch of a study to conduct (privacy, ethics, how to define an unconventional name, how to tell the difference between a strangely-spelled 'normal' name and a different name completely) but if it's true it could be very useful for enabling better targeting of support services for children at risk.
In short you seem to be suggesting that if parents are bad enought to give a child an "unhelpful" name then they are more likely to be abusive? I like your thinking.
Fly Safe, Pyx_e
--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
Anecdotes suggest there is a link between "unconventional" names (or unconventional spellings of names) and presentation rates at Accident & Emergency for children. I expect that anecdotes will exaggerate this (a nurse will be more likely to remember asking how to spell a name like Pyx-underscore-e than a conventional name like John) but I've heard this murmured from a number of people in the medical and social service worlds that I would like to see some proper non-biased study into this.
It would be an absolute bitch of a study to conduct (privacy, ethics, how to define an unconventional name, how to tell the difference between a strangely-spelled 'normal' name and a different name completely) but if it's true it could be very useful for enabling better targeting of support services for children at risk.
In short you seem to be suggesting that if parents are bad enought to give a child an "unhelpful" name then they are more likely to be abusive? I like your thinking.
I am not suggesting anything about abuse (or neglect, or simply a need for better support in learning how to parent), I am merely stating that I've heard enough murmurs about this being noticed at three particular hospitals in Adelaide that I think it should be checked out properly to allow the rumours to be confirmed or debunked . As I said above, I'm completely open to the possibility that A&E staff are just more likely to remember Jaxxxson spelled with three X's who came in with a broken arm because his name was unusual.
Even without assuming that abuse or neglect is going on, parenting is tough and needs good support. Some people have great support from other family members friends or community groups like a local church. Others might be alone, without support from family and not connected with any other community who can support them, so that's where the government needs to step in and give them a helping hand.
I believe that our governments have a duty to do the right thing by our kids, and that this needs to be done proactively. If we can use profiling (on the basis of well-supported analysis of previous patterns) to help those services get to the right people who are more likely to need them, let's do it.
--------------------
If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
You realise you could have chosen any nation on earth (or the nation of origin of any poster on the thread) to make that joke but it just happened to be America, again, odd that ...
Well, MT is the OPer...
Oh good. I'm glad I'm not the only who instantly thought that the remark, being about Mousethief, had to be about an American.
I got it. It's kinda funny, even.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
|
Posted
I seem to recall that Mr and Mrs Hosea and Mr and Mrs Isaiah had offspring with funny names ...
Lo-Ruhamah = Not Loved
Lo-Ammi = Not My People
I wonder how they turned out ...
--------------------
Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
|
Posted
There is an Alaskan family who blog (simplelivingAK) who have seven children with the following names:
Judah Zachariah
Serenity Rose
Mercy Fire
Destiny Divine
Vision O'YHWH (yes really)
Jerusalem Song
Zeven Arrow (their seventh 'arrow' )
--------------------
Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I seem to recall that Mr and Mrs Hosea and Mr and Mrs Isaiah had offspring with funny names ...
Lo-Ruhamah = Not Loved
Lo-Ammi = Not My People
I wonder how they turned out ...
I suppose it's better than Maher Shalal Hash Baz = The Plunder Hastens, The Spoil Speeds.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Panda
Shipmate
# 2951
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
You should try having Welsh Nationalists for parents. I am called by 2nd (often bodged) name because only the Welsh can pronounce my first name. Damn you Mum and Dad. LOL.
Fly Safe, Pyx_e
I remember on 'Have I Got News For You' they were all making fun of someone who'd named his son Euryn, mis-pronouncing it as 'urine' instead of the correct 'eye-rin'. I thought it made them look pretty ignorant, given that Wales is next door. You don't have to speak French to know that a man named Jean doesn't pronounce it Gene.
Posts: 1637 | From: North Wales | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sleepwalker
Shipmate
# 15343
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Panda:
I remember on 'Have I Got News For You' they were all making fun of someone who'd named his son Euryn, mis-pronouncing it as 'urine' instead of the correct 'eye-rin'. I thought it made them look pretty ignorant, given that Wales is next door. You don't have to speak French to know that a man named Jean doesn't pronounce it Gene.
Except, of course, they will have known about the correct pronunciation which is why they took the mick, and why it was funny. After all, HIGNFY is satire.
Posts: 267 | From: somewhere other than here | Registered: Dec 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
|
Posted
I'm just astonished that there are as many as 1,853 girls' names on the approved list. That's a huge variety of names.
In 2011, there were just over 5,000 girls named Amelia in England and Wales, making it the most popular name that year. By the time you get to the 100th most popular, Lydia, there were 589. I suspect that there were either a) less than 1,853 different girls names used in England and Wales that year or b) that the 1,853rd name was used only once.
Iceland has a much smaller population. Surely 1,853 is enough of a choice for anyone?
NEQ, whose daughter has a middle name used only 6 times in Scotland since 1855.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
Some people just want to jump and down and say "look, I'm different and cool".
The problem is that the way they do this is by making a decision that affects their child, not them.
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
|
Posted
1853 is however less of a huge selection when there are many different ethnic groups in a country - and a list of approved names that doesn't take into account different ethnic and cultural names would be a big problem for a lot of people. I am guessing that Iceland is more ethnically and culturally homogenous, however aside from the gendered grammar issue, I think enshrining name rules in law is rather harsh. An offensive name should be disallowed but Blaer (or the feminine form of that) is hardly offensive.
Individualistic perhaps, but imo being able to name one's child freely (without causing offence or harm) is a personal liberty I think people should have.
[ 05. January 2013, 23:55: Message edited by: Jade Constable ]
--------------------
Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
I am guessing that Iceland is more ethnically and culturally homogenous
Yes. In fact, the people of Iceland are constantly poked and prodded for genetic studies by the world's scientists because of their unusual nature as an ethnic group that developed largely in isolation for centuries.
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ondergard
Shipmate
# 9324
|
Posted
It's the girls called Madison and the boys called Jayden or LeShawna, or various other abominations, which make me shudder - that's along with the deliberate mis-spellings (Shawn, Neave), and the ridiculous and growing habit of giving a child a diminutive instead of its original (Harry/Henry/Hal, Albert/Bertie, Alfred/Alfie, Victoria/Vicki, etc).
It's just so obvious that their parents, far from being different and cool, are unimaginative and conventional - it's just that the convention is growing to pick a name some vapid celebrity has invented for him or herself, or some soap opera scriptwriter had purloined.
I bloody hate it, and I just cannot help but indulge in a reflex sneer when asked on the phone if someone can get their baybee done on .... and they want me to be baptising their sprog with one of these bloody silly names.
I'm probably wrong to feel this way, but I can't help but wonder what sort of life you are setting your child up for if his only given name (true) is "Buddy" or (again, true) "Buster", or she is called only (true) "Minnie" or (again, true) "Tiny".
I wish our government would issue a list, and all these shallow vapid in-the-moment frothy names were banned.
[ 06. January 2013, 00:15: Message edited by: Ondergard ]
Posts: 276 | From: Essex | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ondergard:
It's the girls called Madison and the boys called Jayden or LeShawna, or various other abominations, which make me shudder - that's along with the deliberate mis-spellings (Shawn, Neave)
I once came across a Swavette. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, there was Michele (pronounced MISH-uh-lee).
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
|
Posted
All names go through trends, though, and some Puritan names were just as silly as some fashionable names are now. My own name was popular in the 80s and 90s but less popular now. Yes, there are some names that are trendy right now and won't last but the most popular names are usually quite standard. The top five boys' names in 2011 were Harry, Oliver, Jack, Alfie and Charlie. The top five girls' names in the same year were Amelia, Olivia, Lily, Jessica and Emily. Not ridiculous at all.
--------------------
Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Printer-friendly view
