The parents who named their son Adolph Hitler Campbell lost the custody over their three children who will remain wards of the state of New Jersey. To be clear, they didn’t lose their kids because they gave them names like Adolph Hitler but I’m sure it didn’t help. And also to be clear: I don’t like to judge other parents and their parenting choices but come one, you don’t name your child Adolph Hitler because it flowed nicely with Campbell.
Any parent who names their child Adolph Hitler does so because they want to scream their beliefs as loudly as possible. These days I guess hate tattoos just don’t indicate enough commitment. For the record Adolph has two sisters: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie and I’ll safely bet that those name choices will never, ever make it into any mainstream baby name books.
So where do I stand on the issue of parents who give their kids totally whacked names? I’m torn but not over naming a child Adolph Hitler — that’s just an a**hole move — but do parents have the right to name their child just anything that they damn well want? If this family lived in Quebec, this situation would have probably never have happened because the Directeur de L’Etat Civil, aka Quebec’s baby-name police, would have most likely stamped REJECT across their applications. Which makes me wonder, which is better? The freedom to name your child anything or a government agency who has veto power in your family identity?
This baby name thing is complicated. The anarchist who sits on my shoulder screams a diatribe laden with f-words with a general gist of do not let the government dictate family decisions! The sane parent in me, however, says I would not join a playgroup if there was a kid named Adolph Hitler in circle time. But do I want the government to be able to say that family cannot give their child certain names? I’m leaning towards yes for names that are associated with hate or are demeaning, but I’d like to keep a close eye on the persons that make the call about what constitutes a rejected name.
What do you think: Should birth registries be able to reject names like that? To be clear: in this custody case the state claims that they did not remove these children just because of their names, there were other things going on but I’m sure that naming a child Hitler or Aryan Nation didn’t really help.
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I’m not a fan of government intervention and I’d be unsure of where the line should be drawn, BUT I think some parents screw their kids up royally with names. Not just the unusual names, but the things like Adolph Hitler or even Richard Richards or the like. Names are important and some parents choose them on a whim (or when drunk maybe, I don’t know)
Laurie´s last [type] ..It Will Always Be Home
That’s exactly what stops me from saying we need a gov’t agency to police names because where would the lines be drawn? Names ARE important and parents need to take this job seriously plus keep in mind that a name shapes a child and the first impression they give to the world. Big *sigh* some people just aren’t equipped to handle that responsibility.
katie | motherbumper´s last [type] ..Say What To The Dress BlogHer NYC Edition
This is challenging – I still have an inner anarchist myself, even though I now work for the man (hell, I am the man) so I don’t want a baby name police agency. I do, however, wonder just how easy it was to be Moon Unit Zappa.
GingerB´s last [type] ..Fifth disease- because six is too many and four is not enough
Are you serious? There is a government agency in Canada that will reject a name? Are their guidelines or is it based solely on the person doing the stamping? That blows my mind.
NO! There shouldn’t be a government agency determining what parents can name their children. Just because you think it was wrong for these parents to name their children those names, doesn’t mean that it should be mandated that all parents should come under such scrutiny. I would guess that there are very few parents making such statements with their children names, so why should the majority be punished by the dumb few? FTR, I think these parents weren’t just pushing their beliefs, but looking for attention. Of course, there were more things going on in this house. The parents are only thinking of themselves.
Now, I am wondering if our last baby’s name would have been rejected due to some of the reactions I have gotten when saying her name. BTW, her name is Evangeline Claire. Not really controversial unless you have a problems with Acadians. ;)
SoMo´s last [type] ..A Healthy Marriage
The Directeur de L’Etat Civil would eat your daughter’s (very beautiful!) name up with a spoon!
In germany, when a name is unusual, you have to bring proof that it’s a name somewhere else. Some names like Jesus or Judas are rejected to protect the child or religious feelings… Adolph Hitler would be rejected, too, I’m pretty sure. I know that ‘Pumuckel’, the name of a famous gnome from a childrens book, was rejected, too. I couldn’t imagine a man who want’s to introduce himselves as Pumuckel. Neither would Gollum or Garfield be helpful to get a job or a date ;-)
You should be able to name them anything you want. No questions asked. It is not anyone’s business, especially the governments.
My name is Holiday, and I have never once had a negative reaction to my name, either in my personal life or when trying to get a job or any other professional pursuit. I’ve also never regretted my parent’s name choice for me, but even if I did, it’s pretty damn easy to get my name changed to whatever I want.
Of course the government shouldn’t be allowed to “veto” someone’s choice of name! What’s next, only certain haircuts are allowed? You only get to eat burritos on Friday between 4:00 and 6:00? Puh-lease, people….if what Andrea says is true, I think it’s horribly sad that a child cannot be named Jesus in Germany, just because it might offend someone. How insular and small-minded!
Naming your child Adolph Hiltler or Aryan Nation is child abuse.
Plain and simple.
The children should be taken away. Can you imagine having to introduce yourself as Adolph Hitler when you are an innocent child?
What would that do to you?
It’s asinine that there is even a discussion going on about this.
Next, what about the people that suffered and were victims of this terrible, disgusting event.. The people that lived through it that had family live through it.. What about their rights?
Do you think they want to meet a child named Hitler?
It’s disgusting.