Becuase Everything Else Sucks

Sentence Fragments Are Not Names

By D.C.
Published Monday, July 28th, 2008, 5:49 am
Filed under: Human Rights, Society/Culture: Law/Order

“Fish and Chips” and “Number 16 Bus Shelter,” what would you call these? sentence fragments? Things? Objects? If you guessed any of those answers you would be dead wrong, because they are names for children chosen by parents! I’ll let that sink in… … … Yes, that’s right, the names of children.

In a recent Yahoo news story, the use of absurd and ridiculous names for children has angered a New Zealand judge to take action. Judge Rob Murfitt, of family court in New Zealand, renamed a young girl who had been given the name Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii (No word of a lie, that was her real name). She has been renamed, but the court is keeping her new name confidential to protect her privacy.

The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child’s parents have shown in choosing this name It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily.

Personally, I do not understand what could be going through the minds of the parents who agreed to name their child this-I-won’t-even-repeat-it-because-it’s-so-ridiculous name. Some people just do not seem to have the sense to raise children. I believe that these two parents fall into this category. I cannot understand how they would think that this name would be a suitable name to give to someone. Were they high on drugs? People like this do not deserve to have children.

No parent in their right mind would cause greater burden to be placed on their own children by giving bullies and such an easy target. On the other hand, I also would like to know if Talula, and the other children, had their names registered on birth certificates. If they did, I think it should be illegal to name someone in such a way. I am all for open expression, but in the case of a child’s name, since they have no say about what they are called, the parents should show some restraint in ‘expression.’

Some of the names in the Yahoo story and just plain pitiful. ‘Sex Fruit,’ is an actual name given to a child. If a parent could not comprehend that this name would provide a hard life for their child, then they do not deserve to have a child. If they debated between “David, Peter, and all the other names in the English language” and thought Sex Fruit was the most fitting, then they should have a psychiatric evaluation. Even Gweneth Paltrow’s daughter’s name, Apple, is a more fitting name than ‘Sex Fruit!’

If people are looking for fame and fortune, or looking to get on the Jerry Springer show, at the expense of their child, they really need to re-evaluate their priorities. If they actually thought, at the time, that the name ‘Talula does the hula in Hawaii’ or ‘Fish and Chips,’ were proper names then they need a straight jacket. There are too many people out there that find ways to belittle people that have absolutely nothing wrong with them. By giving them a clear target such as a ‘unusual’ name, the child’s life would most likely result in ridicule. In the case of Talula, her lawyer stated:

The girl had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her “K” instead

Related Posts

6 Responses to “Sentence Fragments Are Not Names”

  1. I see your point - and agree that many people are unfit to be parents, but I don’t agree that there should be some list of names that are “accepted” and others that aren’t? Who makes the final decision? Is it states? Is it federal? What if someone wanted to name their child after a native american ancestor? African ancestor?

    Those names may sound pretty bizarre to you and I, but I am not comfortable telling other people what they have to name their children.

    Why not just have a test for people when they reach whatever is deemed “child-producing” age and if they cannot pass the test, we render them unable to produce children?

    I find “Dweezil” and “Moonunit” to be pretty strange names, but I think that Frank Zappa was as fit as anyone to have children - regardless of what our views on his music may be.

    I do sympathize with these children of idiot parents… I just feel uncomfortable allowing government that level of control. I’d hate to see what the list of accepted names would have been when Newt Gingrich ran the House.

    CurMei
    07/28/08 at 9:12 am

  2. You think my daughter, ‘panty liner’, will be chapped when she grows up?

    BuelahMan
    07/28/08 at 9:23 am

  3. Thus the irony. Often the people who would be good parents are unwilling and the people who do have them are unsuitable.

    Comrade Kevin
    07/28/08 at 11:17 am

  4. I see your point DC, but I’m inclined to agree with CurMei. There is already plenty of regulation concerning names, but sometimes things slip through. This just seems like something you can’t easily fix with more laws without creating an even bigger problem.

    Perhaps the best option is to allow children to rename themselves if a teacher or family member is concerned that their current name could be a form of abuse. Even in the case you wrote about above, it’s the judge who renamed the girl. That’s something the state should have no authority to do. Give the power to her for once and let her choose what she wants to be called.

    Manila Ryce
    07/28/08 at 12:23 pm

  5. Agreed, Manila. Hell, I’d not even have a problem giving *all* parent-given names “temporary” status until the kid is old enough to make the decision regarding what they’d like their name to be - whatever arbitrary age we as a society may deem that to be.

    I do believe that there are certain places where it is imperative that government help the populace manage things, but I also think that the more freedom allowed citizens - generally - the better off we all are.

    CurMei
    07/29/08 at 11:26 am

  6. Oh, I totally agree with you CurMei and Manilla. I am not against names that of Native American origin, Hindu, Jewish, etc. in origin. I totally believe that those names are unique and special in their own way. What I am against is the naming of children where the parents seem to have disregard for the child (ie: Sex Fruit). When a name is chosen such as, for instance, Abhidhya which means “wish, longing” in Hindu, I am perfectly fine with that. If the name has special meaning or is important to the family, I have no quams with it.

    It is people that abuse their power to name a child that has no say in what it is called, which causes me to become angry. These select-few unfit parents are the ones that ruin it for everyone else.

    D.C.
    07/29/08 at 12:39 pm

Leave a Reply

Tired of filing this information out everytime you leave a comment at the Largest Minority? Why not register as a user? You also get full access to our forum!

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>