Under Sharia Law Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wont be “on a list approved by the government” in this country...
How about Lakeisha or Shaquilla?
For the record, neither of them are guilty, even with little to no makeup. Also, they do seem to draw a “light breeze”.
“Blaer was not on a list approved by the government”.
Can you imagine? So much control that you have to select a pre-approved name? As much as I chuckle at Latrina, Q’Landa and such.... parents have the right to pick their own child’s name. Sheesh.....
This girl's name is Sigrún. It means 'secret victory'. She's the band's clarinet player.
Nothing to do with this topic, except interesting names and Iceland.
Imagine living in Iceland with all those ridiculous controls!
So, being her, I would introduce myself to everybody by my preferred name, use it in written form everywhere I could get away with it, and spit my government-approved name with as much contempt as I could muster only when required by some bureaucrat (and then say, “but REAL people call me Blaer.”)
And dangit, if my Momma called me "Dog Poop" and the Government wanted to call me "Humilis Vectigal Generans" (look it up), I'd probably settle on "Skyway Thunderbolt" as a reasonable compromise, and use it as outlined above.
“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.”
...and just HOW did “Halldor Laxness” get ON the list???
This kind of situation just goes to show why we need name control here in the US. Name violence can not be tolerated.
If I were to add another member to my family he would be named Sig Colt Remington. If it was a girl, Beretta Glock.
I think in Holland a child’s name has to be on the approved list (I was told). My Dutch friend has grandchildren in Holland and they have some pretty weird names so I don’t know if they are on the list or not.
This is us in 10 years.
One has to be careful how you name your child anymore. My Great-grandfather had a good name 150 years ago. His Great-great-great gransdon was given the same name. I would NEVER name a child that name in today’s world.
Years ago, names like Percival was a good name, but no longer, and my Great-grandfather’s name was worse in today’s culture.
I lived in Iceland as a Navy wife for a couple of years.If I recall, the last names of the Icelanders is their father’s name plus dottir (if they are a girl) and son of they are a boy. So if your Dad’s first name is John and you were a girl, your last name would be Blaer Johnsdottir. If you were a boy it would be whatever Johnson.
I think it would be more important to keep the boy’s names traditional to preserve the culture.
Because of my job, I know far, far more about names and their origins than I ever wanted to. (This information is recent as far as I know, but some things may have changed since I learned of them...)
Iceland has what is called a “closed class” on names. To preserve national identity, they limit official names to those that appear an an approved list of “Icelandic” names. The problem in this case appears to have been a) a lack of proper notification that the chosen name was not on the approved lists and b) perhaps the lists might be missing valid “Icelandic” names.
Note that this only applies to official documentation. If you want a nickname that isn’t “legit”, that’s fine and dandy, but your official documents will have your “legal” name on it.
Here in the U.S., we essentially have a purely “open class” system, in that there is no specific set of rules that apply to what you can or can’t name your child. That said, the “unwritten rules” of society kick in if you chose a swear word or something like “Adolf Hitler” (a case that actually happened).
Another country with a somewhat “closed class” system is Germany. Their rule works something like: “you can name your child anything you want, as long as at least 5 people currently alive use that name”. This prevents the “fanciful” names we often see in the states, but also prevents people from dipping back a few centuries for archaic names that have died out of usage.
Other places have generally open classes, but with lists of unallowed names that are either offensive or the byproduct of a cultural practice the government wants to clamp down on. In an example of the latter, a couple who have lost a few children may wish to name their next one the local equivalent of “ugly” or “stinky head” so as to convince the spirits plaguing them that this child isn’t worth their trouble — all well and good, but then the poor kid is stuck with an insulting name.
Isn’t socialism wonderful!