US judge changes baby's name from Messiah to Martin

[Xarkan]

I feel sad for all hispanic americans in his jurisdiction with the common name Jesus.
-'Hello, you are from now on known as James Pablo Hernandez'

Would the name Messiah not be illegal in Sweden though? Do you not go by an approved list of names and if people want names outside the list they have to get approval?

[alturic]

Would the name Messiah not be illegal in Sweden though? Do you not go by an approved list of names and if people want names outside the list they have to get approval?

What. The. Fuck. Countries have lists of "approved" names that someone can be named? If you want a name not on this list you need special approval????

[Zogarth]

Religion has no place in a courtroom. I call absolute bullshit.

[Thage]

What bothers me more than the forced name changing (which can't be legal in itself) is the reasoning behind it. I don't think it is legal for a judge to use religion (in this case one specific religion) as a basis for a verdict.

Violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. If this is taken to appeals it wouldn't hold up under the most lax scrutiny.

[xuros]

dumb name. should be changed. kids going to get fucked with so hard growing up.

[Maxilian]

Well these's stupid..., so... these judge will change the name of all people named Jesus or Maria, etc...?

I agree the name is really silly but i don't think that the name is that bad, if i meet someone called Messiah i would most likely call him Messi XD

[Xarkan]

What. The. Fuck. Countries have lists of "approved" names that someone can be named? If you want a name not on this list you need special approval????

Well if you let people do whatever they want they will do things like the following

Christopher is a name, ph sounds like double f, Christoffer, since f can be replaced with ph you get Christophpher.

Dyslexia happens because idiots get to do whatever they want :P

Edit: To be fair i am not sure if Sweden does, i am asking if they do

[l33t]

Why and what would they suffer? About the only thing I could have seen happening is exactly what every other kid named messiah went through... simply being called a nickname until they hit adulthood. I don't think that name is any worse (actually far from it) from a name like North West or whatever the hell it was. I mean it would certainly be odd calling a friend (as we were growing up) "Sup Messiah?", but it's NOWHERE near "Sup North?"

Lol I see, it is not obvious to everybody. They would suffer because all of their life they will be laughed at by everybody, just because of their name.
"Hello, I'm Messiah" - "*laughing*"
"Hi, my name is Messiah and I want my TV repaired" - *laugh*
"Greetings, I am Messiah and I want to order a pizza" - *laugh*
And that will just continue for all of their lifespan. Do you really want to live like that because your parents are idiots?
I think judge is right in changing his name, she just shouldn't justify it by religion, only by common sense.

[Sharrel]

I say we just call him Messy for short and let it go.

I was very careful when i named my daughter to not give her a name that could easily be made fun of. The only problem we've found is people can't actually read.. so Brenna is usually called Briana. go figure.

[SodiumChloride]

I think the name should be changed for the child's sake, but not for that reason...

This. While the intention was wrong, the result is for the best.

[Protonet]

Parents naming their kid Messiah clearly has issues. Either that or they thought it would be a clever way of trolling the whole world.. /facepalm

[Enjeh]

What. The. Fuck. Countries have lists of "approved" names that someone can be named? If you want a name not on this list you need special approval????

Indeed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_law_in_Sweden :P

"The naming law in Sweden is a Swedish law which requires approval of the government agency for the names to be given to Swedish children. The parents must submit the proposed name of a child within 5 years of birth. The law was enacted in 1982, primarily to prevent non-noble families from giving their children the names of noble families."

[SodiumChloride]

What. The. Fuck. Countries have lists of "approved" names that someone can be named? If you want a name not on this list you need special approval????

Germany has such laws too.

In Germany, the chosen name must be approved by the local Standesamt (civil registry office or Office of Vital Statistics). The name must indicate the gender of the child and not negatively affect the well being of the child. Last names or the names of objects and products are not acceptable. For example, "Matti" was rejected for a boy's name because it did not indicate gender.[3][4] However, these types of names are permissible if combined with a second name which clears up the gender, for example: "Matti Oliver" or "Matti Julia". The decision of the Standesamt may be appealed after submitting of a fee. The Standesamt refers to a book that translates to "the international manual of first names".

-Wikipedia

[wilbbailey]

While I think its a bit silly to deny the name it is kinds cool to see someone taking some kind of stand. It seems that Christians are the only people its socially acceptable to shit on in recent history.

[Deleted]

What. The. Fuck. Countries have lists of "approved" names that someone can be named? If you want a name not on this list you need special approval????

In germany you need the approval for every Name. They accept it if it fullfills the following conditions.
(1) it must reflect the sex of the child, and (2) it must not endanger the 'well-being of the child.'

[Odina]

And still the name is stupid and the kid will suffer from it in school.

To myself that is a persona opinion... looking at your location you can see that the top names from Finland are

Teemu
Aleksi
Santtu
Mikko
etc etc... To myself they all look silly and would make a child suffer in school for having them. Different regions of the world different names!

My opinion is that so long as it is not a derogatory term or something that instantly instills evil / fear (like the child named hitler) then it should be fine. If you want to name your child North west go for it, messish go for it... hell most names have a religeous meaning anyhow! Apparently my name means "gift from God" ..should I be forced to change my name becuase the only true gift from god is jesus and salvation?

[s_bushido]

Indeed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_law_in_Sweden :P

"The naming law in Sweden is a Swedish law which requires approval of the government agency for the names to be given to Swedish children. The parents must submit the proposed name of a child within 5 years of birth. The law was enacted in 1982, primarily to prevent non-noble families from giving their children the names of noble families."

Yeah, but...the closest thing we have to nobility in the US are vapid celebrities. And they're the ones who like to give their kids ridiculous names. :O

[Deleted]

To myself that is a persona opinion... looking at your location you can see that the top names from Finland are

Teemu
Aleksi
Santtu
Mikko
etc etc... To myself they all look silly and would make a child suffer in school for having them. Different regions of the world different names!

My opinion is that so long as it is not a derogatory term or something that instantly instills evil / fear (like the child named hitler) then it should be fine. If you want to name your child North west go for it, messish go for it... hell most names have a religeous meaning anyhow! Apparently my name means "gift from God" ..should I be forced to change my name becuase the only true gift from god is jesus and salvation?

No, but you should change it if it means the child will suffer due to the parents stupidity.

[Thage]

While I think its a bit silly to deny the name it is kinds cool to see someone taking some kind of stand. It seems that Christians are the only people its socially acceptable to shit on in recent history.

And then you realize it's unconstitutional to use religious reasoning in secular government, because the First Amendment clearly forbids interplay of church and state with the Establishment/Exercise clauses. This isn't about shitting on Christians or some brave Christian taking a stand, it's some idiot judge who's so caught up in the Religious Right movement to turn the US into an Iranian theocracy that they forget that the Bill of Rights forbids shit like this because--shocker of all shockers--our country has people of different faiths living in it, and the only way to guarantee them all equal protection as outlined in the Fourteenth Amendment is for the government to give none of them preferential treatment.

[Rukentuts]

Good. I'm sick of idiots naming their kids something stupid.