Thursday 7 May 2009

Swedish couple continue fight for right to name their son Q

“The Local” 5 May 09 12:27 CET

A Swedish couple from Åre in northern Sweden have taken their fight to name their son Q to the Supreme Administrative Court (Regeringsrätten).
The court will rule if current legislation permits the use of a single letter as a first name.

The parents insist that the boy was not named after the popular figure from the James Bond films and that the decision was instead a last minute one when "Q" was born.

They argue that he answers to the name which they have used since birth.

"He is quite simply Q with half of the inhabitants of the Åre area. There are stranger names in the valley," the couple claim in their appeal of a ruling by the administrative court of appeal (Kammarrätten).

The Supreme Administrative Court on April 21st granted the couple leave to appeal and will consider whether the 1982 names law allows the use of a single letter as a first name.

The couple write that as an alternative they could consider the use of the name "Q: u".


Comment
It could have been worse. It could have been “F : u”, with a second child being called “F : u : 2”.

10 comments:

  1. Why do parents insist on doing this to their children?

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  2. They could spell it "Queue". Maybe not quite as trendy.

    When I named my children, I tried to give them names which would not bring on teasing. I named one of the boys Patrick, and he said it was not masculine enough, because the other kids called him Patricia in high school. You can't win, but I did try.

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  3. So nothing to do with collecting Startrek videos then?

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  4. The Star Trek series certainly has a wealth of names that could be used ....

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  5. Why are some folk mad? Didn't someone in Australia go to court for the right to call their child "@"?

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  6. I seem to recall an instance at a christening in this country where the father asked to name the child "Fatso"!

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  7. ok ppl wake up its their kid... ...name yours as you see fit. my daughter rhiannon nichole is the best kid. yet she hated learning to spell it! lol. and opinions are just your out look. think about that!

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  8. Point taken, grieving32108, but unfortunately it's not the parents that have to live with the name that is given. What sounds wonderful and cute for a small baby wrapped in swaddling cloths may not be so great for an adult trying to make their way in the world. Diminutives for example: Timmy, Johnny, et al. Imagine the Board Meeting. "And now Timmy will give us his presentation on population demographics in the Ukraine".
    The naming of a child is a great responsibility and not something to be flippantly chosen - though I have no evidence to suggest that the Swedish couple in question are not taking it seruiously.

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  9. seruiously = seriously

    And Rhiannon Nichole are great names, but not particularly "way out".

    I have a family name as one of mine, and I have spent my life telling people it's an "e" in the middle and not an "i", as it's spelt like a surname: Perceval. I like having it, but I don't use it.

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