A 15-year-old is suing the Icelandic state for the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother. The priest who baptized the child later informed her he had mistakenly allowed it. Her mother said she learned the name wasn’t on the register only after that.
Bjork Eidsdottir added she knew a Blaer whose name was accepted in 1973. The panel turned it down on the grounds that the word Blaer takes a masculine article, despite the fact that a female character in a novel by Iceland’s revered Nobel Prize-winning author Halldor Laxness used it. Parents can take from the list or apply to a special committee that has the power to say yea or nay.
Her mother hopes that will change with her suit, the first time someone has challenged a names committee decision in court. Agusta Thorbergsdottir, the head of the committee, acknowledged that other cases are more subjective. She pointed to “Satania” as one unacceptable case because it was deemed too close to “Satan.”
The board also has veto power over people who want to change their names later in life, rejecting middle names like Zeppelin and X. When the artist Birgir Orn Thoroddsen applied to have his name legally changed to Curver, he said he knew full well the committee would reject his application.
He said he applied to the committee, but of course he got the ‘No’ that he expected. On his thirtieth birthday, he bought a full-page advertisement that read, “From February 1, 2006, I hereby change my name to Curver Thoroddsen. I ask the nation, my friends and colleagues to respect my decision.”
He said he can understand a clause to protect children from being named something like ‘Dog poo,’ but it is strange that an adult cannot change his name to what he truly wants.
Thoroddsen is keeping his protest to the media. Eidsdottir says she is prepared to take her case all the way to the country’s Supreme Court if a court doesn’t overturn the commission decision on Jan. 25.
Eidsdottir said so many strange names have been allowed, which makes this even more frustrating because Blaer is a perfectly Icelandic name. Eidsdottir added it seems like a basic human right to be able to name your child what you want, especially if it doesn’t harm your child in any way. She added that her daughter loves her name.
Content contributed by staff member, reported from Reykjavik, Iceland, sourced by ap.org
