Since 1993, the election in France has been free, unless it is decided that the name is contrary to the best interests of the child. Before this time, the choice of first names was dictated by French laws that determined which names were acceptable. [12] Napoleon Bonaparte created the law. [13] One naming law that some[6] find restrictive is California`s ban on diacritics, as in José, a common Spanish name. The Office of Vital Records in California requires that names contain only the 26 alphabetic characters of the English language, as well as hyphens and apostrophes. [7] Restrictions vary from state to state, and most are imposed for practical reasons. For example, several states limit the number of characters in a name, due to restrictions in the software used for official registration. For similar reasons, some states prohibit the use of numbers or pictograms. Some states prohibit the use of blasphemy. Conversely, some states, such as Kentucky, have no name laws. The courts have interpreted the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment as generally supporting the traditional right of parents to choose their children`s names.
In other states, the child may take the mother`s maiden name as long as both parents agree. That`s the most important thing: choose a name you like. Remember that you – and your child – will have to deal with this name for a very long time. There`s no way to guarantee that your child will like the name you give them, so you might as well choose one you like and can live with, as there`s a good chance there will be times when your child will hate them. Research suggests that American parents are more likely to use established historical names for boys and much more likely to name boys after parents and ancestors. Boys` names are, on average, more traditional than maiden names and are currently less fashionable. This trend applies across racial boundaries. There is a much faster fluctuation in maiden names than in boys. Parents of daughters are much more likely to show their creativity by naming their daughters than their sons. In Alice Rossi`s 1965 study of naming conventions, she theorized that gender differences in naming strategies exist because of the perceived roles of men and women in society. “Women play the most important role in family and kinship activities, while men are the symbolic bearers of the family`s temporal continuity.” [20] Political status also appears to have an impact on naming strategies.
A study of babies born in California in 2004 found that conservatives were less likely to give their children unusual names than liberals. This also applies across racial and socio-economic boundaries. In families without a college education, political leanings didn`t make much difference to naming trends, but the study found that the less education parents had, the more likely they were to use an unusual name or spelling. But among Caucasian families with university education, conservative families chose names different from those of liberal families. College-educated Liberals were more likely to choose unusual names than college-educated Conservatives. [23] In the United States, parents have a lot of freedom when it comes to naming their children. However, the right to choose a child`s name comes with certain limitations. Most of them were put in place either for practical reasons or to protect the child.
Tennessee`s law is silent on first names, but there are a few complex rules about surnames. Believe it or not, there are rules that limit the names that can be given, and it all depends on where you live. While there is no strict rule about how many middle names a citizen can have in the United States, there are restrictions on the number of characters in a name in some states. Numerical numbers are prohibited by naming laws in several states. North Dakota Tell your child something, but the data system doesn`t allow special characters. And the surname must match that of a parent. The Island Naming Committee, established in 1991, is the group that decides whether a new name is acceptable. If parents want to tell their child something that is not included in the National Register of Persons, they can apply for a permit and pay a fee. A name must pass certain tests to be approved. It must contain only letters of the Icelandic alphabet and must be grammatically appropriate to the language. Other considerations include whether this will embarrass the child in the future and to what extent it fits into Icelandic traditions. It must have a genital ending or have been previously assumed.
In addition, names must be gender-specific, and no one can have more than three personal names. Indiana No rules for first names in Indiana! But if the mother is not married at birth, the baby can only get her mother`s last name, unless there is an affidavit proving paternity.