1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Boglebaum here with a classic brain Stuff episode. 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: In this one, we discuss the art of baby names. 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: The possibilities seem endless, but there actually are some legal 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: limits on what you can name a human child. Hey 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here. Choosing a name for a 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: tiny human that you've never even met is a big decision. 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: There's evidence that your baby's name can influence her future, 9 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: and it can set her apart from the masses. Take 10 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: Magician's pen and Emily Gillette, for example. The duo named 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 1: their baby Sultan, which certainly hints at a future in 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: the family business. Then there are celebrity parents who take 13 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: baby naming to an art form. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow and 14 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: musician Chris Martin opted for Apple, and power performers Beyonce 15 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: and Jay Z, of course, named their daughter Blue Ivy. 16 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: While kids with unusual names will never under stand the 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: joy or annoyance of being known by first name, last initial, 18 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: like me and the other three Loren's in my elementary 19 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: school class, they will spend a lifetime living with their 20 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: unusual monikers. But all those unique names prompt the question 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: is there anything you can't name your baby? With the 22 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: breadth of choices in baby name databases, narrowing down a 23 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: selection can seem impossible. But in a smattering of states 24 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: and countries, the choices have been limited for you. There 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: are some things that you cannot name a baby. There's 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: no universal law governing baby names. The regulations where they 27 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: exist very greatly by country, and the laws of individual 28 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: localities in these countries don't line up cohesively. In the 29 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,759 Speaker 1: United States, for example, state laws restrict parental naming rights 30 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: in a variety of ways. For example, there may be 31 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: restrictions on particular surnames or diacritical marks like accent marks, 32 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: and prohibitions on obscenities, numerals, or pictograms being used. We 33 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: spoke with J. R. Scrap Nick, senior counsel with the 34 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: Snell Law firm in Austin, Texas. He said, generally these 35 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: laws need to comply with the due process clause of 36 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: the Fourteenth Amendment in order to be constitutional, the fourteenth 37 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: Amendment being the one that prevents state laws from infringing 38 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: on citizens nationally guaranteed rights. Those state restrictions are generally 39 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: practical ones, such as requiring only letters of the alphabet 40 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: and not pictograms or symbols. We also spoke with Matt C. Pinsker, 41 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: an adjunct professor who teaches constitutional law at Virginia Commonwealth University. 42 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: He said, for example, in the US, a name entered 43 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: on a birth certificate must be entered in the traditional 44 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: letters of the alphabet and not in the letters or 45 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: symbols of the Chinese alphabet. Other times, names are limited 46 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: in length because of record keeping software. Some states allow 47 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: accents over names, while others do not. For example, Pinsker 48 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: says the accent over the e in Jose is actually 49 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,839 Speaker 1: prohibited by California law. A move to overturn the law 50 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: banning diacritical mark failed in fourteen, in large part because 51 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,679 Speaker 1: adding Spanish accents to birth records could cost state registrars 52 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: and estimated ten million dollars. American naming laws are different 53 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: from those on other continents. Pinsker said. In Europe, parents 54 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: are not allowed to name their children Hitler or Stalin, 55 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: but in America that would violate the freedom of expression. 56 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: Denmark in particular, has some of the most restrictive naming laws. 57 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: In order to abide by the country's law on personal names. 58 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: Parents may select a name from a list of seven 59 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: thousand approved names for both boys and girls, all using 60 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: traditional spellings. To give a child a moniker that is 61 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: not pre approved requires review by government officials. Of the 62 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: estimated one thousand, one hundred names that are scrutinized annually, 63 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: about are rejected. Among the thrown out names anus, Pluto, 64 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: and monkey on the approved list names like Benji, Molly, 65 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: and fee. In some places, names aren't officially banned until 66 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: after a parent chooses a problematic moniker for a child. 67 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: For example, officials in Sonora, Mexico reviewed actual names from 68 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: the states a hundred and thirty two newborn registries a 69 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: banned sixty one of those names, including Facebook, Batman, and RoboCop. Previously, 70 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: the state had no such prohibitions, which means babies legally 71 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: received names such as U. S. Navy, Hitler, and Harry 72 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: Potter before that ban was enacted. For many officials, it's 73 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: less about the names and more about what they represent, 74 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: a potential lifetime of put downs. Sonora State Civil Registry 75 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: Director Christina Ramirez told the Associated Press the law is 76 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: very clear because it prohibits giving children names that are 77 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,160 Speaker 1: derogatory or that don't have any meaning and that can 78 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: lead to bullying. Aside from specific state or county restrictions, 79 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: parents still have access to a considerable variety of names, 80 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: some that are potentially objectionable for reasons ranging from historical 81 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: issues to crude, controversial, or criminal references, which perhaps means 82 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: that the real question prompted here is an A could, 83 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: but I should. Today's episode is based on the article 84 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: you Can't Name your Baby that on how stuff works 85 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: dot com, written by Laurel Dove and brain Stuff is 86 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff 87 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: Works dot Com and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four 88 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 89 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.