Comments on: What’s In A Name? http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html The Law, the Universe, and Everything Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:31:00 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 hourly 1 By: Stephen Aslett http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52135 Stephen Aslett Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:42:01 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52135 Though some U.S. courts recognize that parents have a fundamental right to name their children, others don't. See Henne v. Wright, 904 F.2d 1208, 1214 (8th Cir. 1990) and Brill v. Hedges, 783 F.Supp. 333, 339 (S.D. Ohio 1991) ("[T]his Court agrees with the reasoning of the Eighth Circuit in Henne that, while parents have an important interest in naming their children, this interest does not rise to the level of a fundamental right."). I could see a U.S. court striking down a statute mandating a specific list of names like the Venezuela bill, but it's a closer question whether a court would invalidate a more narrowly tailored naming statute proscribing, say, "obscene" names, overly long names, or numbers as names. Though some U.S. courts recognize that parents have a fundamental right to name their children, others don’t. See Henne v. Wright, 904 F.2d 1208, 1214 (8th Cir. 1990) and Brill v. Hedges, 783 F.Supp. 333, 339 (S.D. Ohio 1991) (”[T]his Court agrees with the reasoning of the Eighth Circuit in Henne that, while parents have an important interest in naming their children, this interest does not rise to the level of a fundamental right.”).

I could see a U.S. court striking down a statute mandating a specific list of names like the Venezuela bill, but it’s a closer question whether a court would invalidate a more narrowly tailored naming statute proscribing, say, “obscene” names, overly long names, or numbers as names.

]]> By: Stephen Aslett http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52134 Stephen Aslett Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:41:23 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52134 Though some U.S. courts recognize that parents have a fundamental right to name their children, others don't. See Henne v. Wright, 904 F.2d 1208, 1214 (8th Cir. 1990) and Brill v. Hedges, 783 F.Supp. 333, 339 (S.D. Ohio 1991) ("[T]his Court agrees with the reasoning of the Eighth Circuit in Henne that, while parents have an important interest in naming their children, this interest does not rise to the level of a fundamental right."). I could see a U.S. court striking down a statute mandating a specific list of names like the Venezuela bill, but it's a closer question whether a court would invalidate a more narrowly tailored naming statute proscribing, say, "obscene" names or numbers as names. Though some U.S. courts recognize that parents have a fundamental right to name their children, others don’t. See Henne v. Wright, 904 F.2d 1208, 1214 (8th Cir. 1990) and Brill v. Hedges, 783 F.Supp. 333, 339 (S.D. Ohio 1991) (”[T]his Court agrees with the reasoning of the Eighth Circuit in Henne that, while parents have an important interest in naming their children, this interest does not rise to the level of a fundamental right.”).

I could see a U.S. court striking down a statute mandating a specific list of names like the Venezuela bill, but it’s a closer question whether a court would invalidate a more narrowly tailored naming statute proscribing, say, “obscene” names or numbers as names.

]]> By: Tim Zick http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52133 Tim Zick Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:50:15 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52133 Neil -- Thanks -- really interesting piece on privacy; looks like some countries (e.g., France) are tinkering with their registry laws. But elsewhere, it seems you have a right to a name --but not any name. I think the ethnographers are onto something, in the sense that this issue goes much deeper than legal conceptions of privacy (and speech). By the way, I had read some time ago that David had fallen out of favor in the U.K, and that Mohammed (various spellings) was on the rise. Frank -- Thanks for the links. I had forgotten about the "baby branding" reports. My favorite "disputed" name would have to be "Metallica" (Scandanavia, I think). Tim Neil –

Thanks — really interesting piece on privacy; looks like some countries (e.g., France) are tinkering with their registry laws. But elsewhere, it seems you have a right to a name –but not any name. I think the ethnographers are onto something, in the sense that this issue goes much deeper than legal conceptions of privacy (and speech).

By the way, I had read some time ago that David had fallen out of favor in the U.K, and that Mohammed (various spellings) was on the rise.

Frank –

Thanks for the links. I had forgotten about the “baby branding” reports. My favorite “disputed” name would have to be “Metallica” (Scandanavia, I think).

Tim

]]> By: Frank http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52132 Frank Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:06:39 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52132 Here are a couple of my posts on it. http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/06/baby_naming_bra.html http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/08/names_and_sins.html Here are a couple of my posts on it.

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/06/baby_naming_bra.html

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/08/names_and_sins.html

]]> By: Neil Richards http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52131 Neil Richards Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:03:21 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52131 Tim - government name registries apparently active in a number of Western European countries, including Germany, France, and Belgium. Jim Whitman's "Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty," 113 Yale LJ 1151, 1216-18 (2003) discusses a case from Belgium of a couple that wanted to name their son "Anakin" and lost, with child named "Dorian" by the state instead. Neil Tim – government name registries apparently active in a number of Western European countries, including Germany, France, and Belgium. Jim Whitman’s “Two Western Cultures of Privacy: Dignity Versus Liberty,” 113 Yale LJ 1151, 1216-18 (2003) discusses a case from Belgium of a couple that wanted to name their son “Anakin” and lost, with child named “Dorian” by the state instead. Neil

]]> By: greglas http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52130 greglas Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:21:35 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52130 And while we're at it, you also might like <a href="http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300083859" rel="nofollow">this book</a>. And while we’re at it, you also might like this book.

]]> By: A http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52129 A Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:35:01 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52129 You might also be interested in this website: http://thebabynamewizard.ivillage.com/parenting/ You might also be interested in this website:

http://thebabynamewizard.ivillage.com/parenting/

]]> By: greglas http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/10/whats_in_a_name.html/comment-page-1#comment-52128 greglas Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:40:51 +0000 http://www.solove.org/archives/2007/10/whats-in-a-name.html#comment-52128 Tim -- you might find this paper interesting (by Ann Bartow) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=981199 Tim — you might find this paper interesting (by Ann Bartow)

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=981199

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