A family in New Jersey USA had their children taken away from them after naming one of their kids that. They attracted attention by ordering a birthday cake with the then 3yo’s name on it.
I have a friend whose older brother is named Adolf, born in Berlin in the early 1940s and still lives there. I’ve always wanted to ask why he didn’t change his name but what an awkward question.
I am surprised Dolf Lundgren didn’t choose a completely different stage name (though he’s Swedish).
>I am surprised Dolf Lundgren didn’t choose a completely different stage name (though he’s Swedish).
Isn't his name Dolph? And I would've never actually thought about "Adolf" when seeing his name, so I don't really see that he would've needed to do that.
There's no actual written law on this, but the relevant authority (Standesamt) has to take the child's welfare into account when accepting names, and may reject them as a matter of common law.
(I suppose it's possible this would be under the purview of the Verbotsgesetz as well, but it wouldn't get that far due to the name being rejected.)
The law on giving names in Germany is not passed through legislation but is instead the result of customary law and legal precedent/judgements. Exceptions are for example in changing of the given name(s) involving adoption or in the application of §1 TSG ("transsexual law").
After the birth of a child its first name is decided by their parents (or the singular legal guardian) although there are certain guidelines for the naming.
The first name...
- ... has to be recognizable as a first name
- ... can be of neutral gender (had to be obviously male or female until 2008)
- ... must not be damaging to the child, for example inviting ridicule or making a connection to "Evil", e.g. "Judas" or "Kain" ("Cain" in English). The first name Adolf despite its tainting through the dictator could potentially be legal depending on the parents' motives
- ... must not be damaging to the religious feelings of other people in society, for example "Christus", in the past also "Jesus" which has since been declared legal by a court
- ... must not be a well known name for a place/town/city or a trademark
- ... must not be a family name, with some exceptions
- ... must not contain a title like "Lord" or "Princess"
- ... must be given within a month of the birth.
A person can have multiple, but has to have at least one first name. The local can also intervene in the giving of too many first names if that would otherwise come to harm the child (one ruling made it so a mother could not give her child twelve but only a maximum of five first names). When given multiple first names the one most often used to address the person is called the "Rufname" (approximate English equivalent "nickname"). The arrangement of the first names is not a ranking. Following a German supreme court decision (1959) a person is free to choose from their official first names by which they'd like to be addressed, the "nickname" is thus not set permanently.
A child's first names have to differ from their siblings', if there are multiple first names, one can be the same as a sibling's. Three first names must not be connected by dashes (e.g. "Jan-Marius-Severin").
- snip, long paragraph on the history of the requirement for an obvious gender of the first name(s), important part to follow - Following a supreme court decision in 2008, there is no such requirement in the law, the earlier "requirement" came from an official directive given to the registrar's offices ("Standesämter"). Thus the name-giving by the parents continues to only be restricted by the "no harm to the child" or if "there is no possible way for the child to identify their sex/gender [1] from the name".
In Germany, exceptions allow for the later change of one's own first name(s). For example immigrants have the option to "Germanize" their names or, if that's impossible, choose new first names. Furthermore there's the option to change one's first name(s) if the person has always been called by a different name or if they can't deal with their "exotic" first name.
In addition trans people have the option to change their first name to fall in line with their gender identity (for which on German identity documents the options are "male", "female" or "diverse").
[1]: don't know which is meant here, "Geschlecht" is (colloquially) used for both words in German
A friend from Montenegro, living in Germany, gave a name to his son ending in "a". At first it was rejected because in German all names ending in "a" are female. Had to bring an official paper from his embassy to prove that chosen name is in deed a male one. I think it was before 2008, as mentioned above.
"Maria" is a name which is mostly used for girls, but in Germany it can be used as a middle name for boys too. So names ending with an "a" only for girls is not a hard rule.
So yes, there are some hurdles to name your child whatever you want and I think this is good for the child. But usually these hurdles are not unconquerable.
One would assume, but unfortunately as another comment in this thread illustrated, there is no bottom when probing the depth of the depravity inspired by ignorant hatred.
Sometimes it doesn't really feel like parents think too hard about their child's well-being when naming them. They actually publish the list of names that were rejected because of Finnish naming laws and while the list doesn't say if it was a parent seeking a name for a child, or an adult for themselves, I imagine there are many that are seeking them for a child. For example, "Decepticon", "Marihuana", "Sukka" (literally means "sock").
And as a famous example from across the pond, Elon Musk comes to mind.
I have a friend whose older brother is named Adolf, born in Berlin in the early 1940s and still lives there. I’ve always wanted to ask why he didn’t change his name but what an awkward question.
I am surprised Dolf Lundgren didn’t choose a completely different stage name (though he’s Swedish).
The NJ situation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Hitler