What's in a name?

Nowadays you don’t have to be a celebrity to name your child Talula Does The Hula. We all know that celebrities love to be different, and part of that uniqueness is giving a child a bizarre name. It’s okay for kids of celebrities because they live a celebrity lifestyle. However, for an ordinary child from an ordinary family in an ordinary town, a name like these celebrities kids’ names could cause distress, emotional pain and scarring.



According to published reports, a family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names, and decided to do something about it. Imagine naming your child, Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. The judge had her renamed. Judge Rob Murfitt made the 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed, he said in a ruling made public on July 24, 2008. The child was involved in a custody battle, and her new name was not made public, to protect her privacy, he said. The judge said the name “makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily.” The child had been so embarrassed at the name that she had never told her closest friends what it was. She told people to call her “K” instead, the child’s attorney, Colleen MacLeod, told the court. Bizarre names have been blocked by officials, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said.