- Internationally, some countries bar the use of certain names for children born there. The two categorical reasons tend to be either the protect and ensure the continuity of traditional names or to avoid names that would be deemed in the region as significantly problematic in terms of social interaction. Three such countries include Germany, Poland and France.
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In domestic terms, U.S. child naming rules are a gray area.
In early 2009 a case broke the news headlines in which a parent wanted to have his child's unique name written on a birthday cake. The baker refused because of the name in particular, and the story quickly grew legs when the local authorities got involved. The reason: the child's full name included the name "Adolf Hitler."
As many are aware from history, Adolf Hitler was the name of the German dictator and Nazi responsible for the Jewish Holocaust and igniting World War II. It is no surprise, then, that most of the public response was against the child's father on the birthday cake issue in light of the offensive child's name.
The news media quickly generated conversation at the local government level about the legality of the child's name. However, no agencies would come right out and say the name was illegal or offensive. This was mainly because there was nothing on the books that stated a person could not name his child "Adolf Hitler." -
Thus the quandary: The child has a name that is highly offensive to the general public, but there is no specific law barring the name. What to do? The parents asserted it was their right to name their child as they wanted, and that no one could change that.
The local government agencies involved instead took the tack of focusing on the child's welfare rather than the name. Under the approach of making sure the child was not suffering from abuse, child protection officers reviewed the parents and their home for signs of neglect. -
It is generally accepted in most countries that part of a child's name should be distinct enough to mark her as an individual. The secondary part connects her to the family she is part of, at least traditionally. In most circumstances the given child's name should be generally used since this is the name the child has been recognized with at birth.
But parents also have an obligation to protect the health of their children. This requirement is codified in state and national laws in the U.S. If they place their child at risk by knowingly using a name that will generate danger or violent reaction, then the parents could be held responsible for endangering their child. Ergo, child laws that are not directly addressing a child's name can still be used to effect change of behavior in errant parents. - More than likely, because of ambiguity of how various states' laws are applied, the validity of an offensive child's name will more often than not ultimately end up being decided by a court. These issues frequently have to be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis.
