Why must our Parents be the ones who give us our names?

I give credit to buchichuu's "Should women change their name when they get married" topic for inspiring me to put up this topic.

I know the law (by that I meant every country's own set of Government &/or Religious laws & practices) gives parents the right to name their child at birth (especially if the child was born at a Hospital for filing birth certification) but being an individual with his/her own rights, shouldn't the child be the one to choose his/her own name? OK, so there's the little tidbit of "a minor can not decide stuff for his/her own well-being", then why not once an individual reaches legal age (17, 18 or 21 depending on the country) he/she is then given the right to choose which name he/she would prefer. I do know that there is a provision in the law (I'm only familiar with my own country's laws by the way) that does allow an adult of legal age (here it's 21) the right to have a name change for a hefty prize of 25,000Php (that's more or less $589USD with an exchange rate of 1$USD = 42.4808836Php rounded off) & with good reasons (safety for example) but 25k is ridiculously insane!

I can also see the potential abuse to such a right/privilege but if you can have the right for one & only one name change free of charge (with any future name changes costing much & must be presided & acknowledged legally) then it will work out. Let's say it like this: For purposes of documenting your birth parent can assign a child an "arbitrary" name that once the child reaches legal age, he/she can opt to retain or change. And as I am agreeing that wives should DEFINITELY be given the right to keep their own names, so should it be that the child should be given the right to choose his/her own last name.

To tell you the truth, the main reason why I thought of this topic is also because I am thinking of the child's "social welfare", by that what I meant is how a child's name can make &/or in most cases break his place in society. What I mean is, because of society giving new connotations (of which most are bad, sexual &/or hurtful in fact) to names, your name & even a nickname can humiliate you in public. Let me give you a classic example, a child who has the name Richard can be bullied & made fun off by his peers (or the neighborhood asshole in general) with the nickname "Dick" which of course connotes "penis" & has a derogatory meaning of loser. Another example is, heaven forbid you have two first names & your initials ended with you getting the nickname "BJ", now we all know what that could also stand for right?

Another, more intrusive way we could deal with this is to ban names &/or name combinations that will lead to a "humiliating" nickname. But as I said, that's a bit too much.

Oh & if this is how it does work, I rather parents (&/or the community the child/ren is with) give their child/ren's name/s based on the child/ren's traits like how the native Americans in the movie "Dances with Wolves" named everybody even Kevin Costner's character because they saw his character playing with or what looked like, he was dancing with a wolf he had tamed. But then again..... "She who blows hard"... err, I guess not

 

cba reading it. they made us. <3

 

I hate every point you make that I can't even reply with a point just yet.

 

You have to call the kid something when they're babies. Anyway...is this a joke topic? It's pretty silly. You'd end up with a bunch of kids named Spider-Man or how about that chick named Peekaboo Street? Yes, that's her actual name. She clearly isn't traumatized by it as she goes by it as a public figure but still...stupidest thing I've ever heard.

I regret the name I gave our son. It ended up being a trendy name, even though at the time I didnt know that...I was even googling the name in an attempt to AVOID giving him a trendy name, alas, it was a popular year for said name which I couldn't foresee. His middle name is a off-the-wall name that was going to be his first, but I decided it would be cruel to name him something so weird (kids really don't need HELP to get bullied when they go to school) but now I like it better than the trendy one. If he decides at any point he wants to go by his middle name I'll be all for it. And when he's old enough to have it legally changed of his own volition, he can call himself Dog-poo McGee for all I can do about it. But when they're kids, it's kind of necessary to name them.

 

You're an idiot and I hate you.

Also I dunno about whatever assfuck-backwards place you live in but in most civilized countries there are authorities tied to the registry offices that stop overly stupid names from getting through. This is why in New Zealand there is a kid who doesn't have to go through life called "4Real" (I'm serious, some stupid family tried that). It's the parents' responsibility for your name, whether you like it or not. If you honestly think being mocked for your name in school is a big deal then I'd also suggest growing the fuck up and gaining some perspective.

I have more but instead I'll just quote Natalie because she pretty much summed it up:

 

Believe it or not, a name as "normal" sounding as "Benjamin James" can be made fun of, if people found out & they started calling you B.J.. If you still don't get it, would you like it if people started calling you B.J. with the inflection directed at or referring to "blow job"?

Ever heard of the running gag about "B.J. McKay & his Best Friend Bear"? Well for those of you who don't know, B.J. McKay was an action packed show in the late 70's about a trucker who fought against corrupt city officials & Police officers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtLpGfRVMtA

However, social brainwashing gave something as innocent as the initials "B.J." a sexual connotation so people with B.J. as their initials or worse, whose nickname is Bee Jay gets made fun off.

As I said on my initial post, it's the exact same thing that happened with the name Richard & it's most common contraction (nickname equivalent) "Dick". Or with "John" having a reference to toilet.

My point exactly, while they are still minors they can hold onto their "temporary" names, then as they reach legal age they can opt to change it, for just cause.

EDIT: RFE:

I hate you bitches as well, you can rot in hell for all I care

 

Dude, just... just stop it.

 

Give me one good reason why?

A child is one's property & responsibility!?

Pshww!

There are a lot of irresponsible parents out there who'd throw away their children had they been given the chance, so these kids have the right to make a name for themselves if need be.

 

Feel free to change your name whenever you want and stop bitching about it.

 

Give me a name you think can't be made fun of and I'll make fun of it.

 

If you want your own name, stop mooching off mommy and daddy and get a fucking job.

 

theres a bit of truth to this cause some parents are flat out retarded. a family here tried to name their little girl adolf hitler... i kid you not. it got on the news cause a store refused to put it on a cake and later found out the parents are illiterate.

only in cases like that should kids get the immediate option to change their name at will

 

I feel stupider for having read this thread. As Suis so succinctly put it, we here in the first world do things differently - this goes for your "lower income bracket" thread, too. You seriously need to stop judging the world based on your observations of what must surely be a terrible country filled with retards.

Besides, mocking names is a means to an end. The kid would get bullied regardless of what his name is.

 

Apparently its in the Philippines. And boy is it backwards.

 

I'm so glad I moved to the US as soon as I got internet savvy.

 

Hmm, I should think if a person is old enough and and CAN change if he wants, it should be alright because names stay with you for good. You can't choose your family but you can choose your name when you are old enough to decide. If we can be liberal with a lot of things, why is it unacceptable if one chooses to alter their name? Anyhow, it is not what the name that makes us, it is how we make ourselves. If it makes one feel better having a name he so forth desire, then bombs away...LOL

 

this topic reminded me of that story where a programmer name his child [his name] version 2.0.

anyway why not parent be the one who give you your names? for once you cant talk.. hell you cant even eat by your own >.>. the only thing you can do by your self is poop your pants... and they need something to call you >.>

also children always find a way to make fun of other children... if your children's name cant be make fun off, they'll just make fun of his/her height, weight, way he/she talkes.. ect ect.

 

I don't think I want the name "Tata", "Mama" or "Dada".

Kidding aside, I don't see much of a problem when it comes to names. Sure, maybe one day someone stupid will make fun of it. But it will pass after a while.

 

Well, instead of being banned for displaying an inordinate level of targeted racism towards EVERY SINGLE FILIPINO PERSON who isn't v3 and Joben, I'll just point out that this answers a lot of questions and leave it at that.