A list of 'approved' swiss names?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
21
And Scarlett and Justin.

22
Has anybody named their child after this village in Austria?

23
Well, that would make our kids have the real exotic names then

24
.... and I knew of a Swiss Tony, in the 90's - used to sell cars, if I recall.

25
The name in question is her middle name. Her first name is a typical girl name, but we wanted to use "Jura" as her middle name as they are the mountains right behind us. Apparently Jura is masculine (Le Jura) and the Swiss folks who we have told her middle name to seem to hate it and can't believe we would use a masculine name as her middle name. I still like it though and intend on using it. For all her birth paperwork in Switzerland we are just leaving the middle name out, we'll only use her middle name on the US paperwork.

It just seemed odd to me when I was told I couldn't name my child that so I wanted to check in here and see if it was true.

26
Well I am Jura born and bred, so not likely to object, am I. It's lovely - and if they don't like it, tough. It's lovely. Not sure at all if it would be officially 'allowed' or not though.

Jura is also a famous name of electrical appliances (based in Bienne), another reason why you might get a few raised highbrows- but who cares.

About JURA

Keeping Pace With Changing Times

Since 1931, the Swiss company JURA Elektroapparate AG has been developing innovative high-end household appliances.

As a pioneer in the field of automatic espresso/coffee machines JURA has been a main contributor to the household appliance sector since the middle of the 1980s. Now, the company uses its experience and know-how for the development of semi-professional appliances for the office and foodservice sector.

The traditional Swiss brand has now become a global player.

27
My 21 year old daughter is named Scarlett (as a middle name, as is correct), but I won't tell you our surname!

Tom

28
Nah, don't give up too quickly.

There is (there can not be) a definitive list of acceptable names. There are however a few rules:

1. The first name must clearly indicate the true sex of the child.

So a boy named Samantha or Heidi is a no go. This sometimes causes problems with names such as Andrea, a mans name in italian but a womans name in German, where the male form is Andreas.

BTW: Jura apparently is a male name in Croatia but a female name in Lithunia.

2. The childs name must not invite abuse or ridicule.

So a girl named Gukululu Miller is a no go (there could be exceptions if that is an often used name in the language of foreign parents),

3. The childs name must not have a negative connotation.

So naming a boy Stalin Miller is a no go as well.

4. Last but not least, Names of placed are usually not accepted.

No Matterhorn Miller.

But: Usually, the office will give you a bit more leeway if the child has more than one name (there is no such thing as a the middle name), if the other name/s fulfill/s the criteria.

So Bob Hitler Miller will not be accepted. But Anne Jura Miller might well be accepted.

Anyway, you have little to loose: If the name gets accepted, you have your name. If it doesn't you can still decide if you want to appeal the decision or not. So not too big a hasle IMHO.

29

a some one who grew up in a foreign land, I struggle with these two points with many Swiss names constantly.

Even my name which isn't very extremely common is pronounced like the feminine version here.

But these points are through a foreigner's eyes (ears?) obviously .

On that note, how do they deal with Transgendered and the lot of that middle ground?

30
This isn't quite correct, the rule of thumb is that if the first name does not clearly indicate the gender then the second name must do so. My daughter (born in Switzerland) has a name that is unisex in my country but in Switzerland is always male and gets me some confused looks. Babycenter.ch has some useful guidance though I don't know how definitive it is across the whole of Switzerland.

Just go and register the name you have chosen, most likely they will not worry about it especially when they see you are foreign. If they do, you can fight your corner - maybe tell them you have Lithuanian ancestry (as SamWeise said!) and point them to this site: http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect...g_of_Jura.html

31
My plan was to list no middle name on the Swiss birth certificate. Then, when we register her at the Embassy we will include her middle name on all the US paperwork and not even deal with the fact that Switzerland might reject our name choice. She is, after all, a US citizen so I should not have to bow to the Swiss naming guidelines...

It's funny that a Swiss person can be offended that I am using the masculine "Jura" for my daughter, yet they don't think it odd to name a boy "Valentine"

32
But it might not be rejected - so why not try it? Nothing to lose, if they don't then just remove it on Swiss documents.

To be fair, I do not know of any boy in CH called Valentine.

Valentin is a boy's name, Valentine a girl's.

One name which causes confusion is

Nicola - in English a girl's name and in French a boy's as in:

Nicholas (same pronunciation in French- no 's').

33
It might be Valentin. We know 2 boys with this name and it sounds like the english "valentine" when they pronounce it... but I'm not sure how they spell it. In any case it sounds very feminine to me. Just like Michel, pronounced Michelle, is a girls name in the US, but a common boys name here

34
If you don't list a middle name on her Swiss birth certificate it may not be accepted on the US paperwork. I don't know how the US system works, but although my daughter is British her Swiss birth certificate is her one and only birth certificate, thats her name and it can't be changed.

(and you have to abide by other Swiss laws if you live here, so why should laws about names be any different? If you're naming her after Switzerland it seems a shame not to have it on her Swiss birth certificate!)

35
in the 90s a Portuguese father was refused the right to name his child "Sony" in Geneva. He apparently wanted that name as he so admired the quality of his television set. The lower classes, heh?

36

Actually that name has a bit of a nice ring to it (IMO), unfortunately the association with the corporation kinda killed any chance of a kid with that name having a normal life

On a side note, a friend of mine's highschool friend (also from the aforementioned social class ) Had a first child at 16, second at 18. When the second was born they let the first one choose the middle name of the new born. Being a fan of the new Shrek movies, the toddler chose 'Donkey' as the middle name (if you haven't seen the movies, it's pronounced somewhere along the lines of Duon-Que), and yes it stuck.

Official name:

Britany Donkey Harris (*real names changed, don't actually know them)

Hilarity ensued.

37
Sounds like an urban legend to me. But how do you know he was from "the lower classes", eh? Is it just to you Portuguese = Lower class?

38
Nicola is a male name in Italian as well (I know several, as well as several named Andrea, Luca, Marion (but he usually goes by Mario), xxxxxx Maria, etc).

And lets not forget, in the US many people use "René" as a girls name!

Tom

39
This might sound mean, but I had a good laugh with my OH imagining what the middle name could be, by giving villages around us as examples...

We came to pearls such as: Fasgwil, Bubikon, etc.

It's an 8 year old sense of humour, I know...

What the hell is that even supposed to mean? Portugal also has a list of allowed names, so the lower classe 3rd world country that it is won't allow for crazy names.

And I agree with MiniMia: it sounds like an urband legend.

40
Well his real name was probably Anton.

Funny thing I met a "German" Stan the other day. His real name is Stanislaw but he decided to Americanize his name and switched to Stan. That's what most Swiss and Germans do with the names of their kids nowadays. So there are a lot of Debbies and Bobs running around as well.

Right. I wouldn't want to know your surname anyway?