France forbids names like Nutella, Strawberry, Titeuf and MJ

This is a funny and interesting article. I don't think it's just France either but many European countries are pretty strict about what you can name your children. There's a debate about freedom of choice vs what's 'right' and good for the kid... anyway... that explains why every European I've met has a really 'normal' and most likely very common name and also with a common spelling.

I think I agree with this law. I'm tired of stupid names, funny names, names that you can't spell easily (even if they are common names).. I'm tired of parents trying to be cool or trendy and it's their kids that suffer.

I myself have an uncommon name but it's easy to spell and pronounce but yet I still have so many problems, esp. over the phone.. even when I try to spell it they get it wrong. And so I can imagine the annoyance kids of weird names must feel later on when they are adults..

Article from 'The Local' here

extract:

Nutella and Strawberry

This week saw news that both Nutella and Strawberry (Fraise) were given the red light in France. Why? Because judges thought both girls would be mocked as they grew up. To make matters worse for Fraise, the judge said that the bullies would no doubt pounce at the chance to use the expression "ramène ta fraise" - a slang phrase roughly meaning "get your ass over here".

Titeuf 

 

Titeuf is a popular cartoon character in France. Photo: bgvjpe/Flickr

 

In 2009, a couple from the north of France chose to name their son after the famous French children's comic book hero 'Titeuf'. Unfortunately for them, a judge ruled that the name could prove detrimental to their son's life, especially during his teen years, and later in his professional life. Titeuf was an eight-year-old boy with blond hair. He even appeared in British comic book The Dandy, renamed as "TooTuff" for English-speaking audiences.

My related posts about babies names:

Top French baby's names year by year 1946-2011
Top French baby's names 2009
Top French baby's names 2011
Top French baby's names 2013
Top French baby's names 2015

(strange how I only seem to do this on odd-numbered years, that's not intentional!)