French court does not admit chocolate name for children

There is a strange court decision about naming of a child reported in France.

The Guardian: Nutella not a girl’s name, French court rules

In this case, the parents of a girl attempted to name their daughter "Nutella". It is a famous brand of hazelnut chocolate in France. However, the family court did not permit the naming because such a strange name would cause the girl being bullied in the future.

Surprisingly, she was renamed to "Ella" by the court, because the parents did not appear in court, according to LA VOiX DU NORD.

LA VOiX DU NORD: « Nutella », « Fraise »: le tribunal de Valenciennes refuse les prénoms de deux bébés (in French)

In France, the variation of the naming had been limited to several popular ones until 1993, I mentioned in the past. After the regulation was relaxed, parents can name their children as they want. But the public officials can allege the case to the family court if they think that the name is potentially harmful to the interest of the child.

My past entry: Naming a child

I feel that French legislation is a little inclined to socialism. On the other hand, it is unclear why the parents were absent at the court. Anyway, I hope the happiness of the issued child.

Naming is a great matter for everyone. The manner of naming depends highly on the culture in each country. I feel that many American and British people share the given name, unlikely in Japan. I wonder it is a risk of misidentification, especially as they frequently use first names.

On the other hand, some people hate their name so much that they attempt to rename themselves. Drag queens were focused on the real-name policy of Facebook recently. Considering the fact that the modern society is vulnerable and rapidly changing, flexibility of altering names should be accepted in the future. Since biological certification will be realized for exact identification of individuals, the meaning of a unique name will shrink.

My past entry: Real-name policy of Facebook and gender minorities

By the way, I disliked my name "Akihiro" in my childhood. "Aki" means "bright", and "Hiro" means "big" in Japanese, but I did not think I was a bright and big boy. After grown up, my opinion gradually changed. I am now thankful to my parents for giving "Akihiro" as my name.