Was hard not to laugh. I called him the English way, which was the version he preffered.
Parents are mean! :P
One of my friends is called Brian. He's French. I asked him how one pronounces that in French. He eyed me with a bit of anger (he hates his name) and explained: Brrreeeee-ãn.
I've spawned at least three "Christoph Blochers", two "Ueli Maurers" and a couple of Simonettas.
What's not to like?
How about something Aargauisch "Doris Hermetschwil-Staffeln Rudoltstetten-Friedlisberg Meier" for example?
Just do what the Brits do and girly-up the name:
e.g. Wayne becomes Waynetta.
Jura becomes Juretta.
There is a little girl in my daughter's Spielgruppe named Geneva. Her dad is Swiss and her mom is American, they didn't have any problems registering her as Geneva...
Jura Craven
Jura Farder
Jura Beaver
Jura Spade
Jura Bush
Jura Dyke
Jura can be a very awkward first name if it doesn't flow well with the last name.
What if the last name was Park, then the second name could be Ssic.
boom tish...
What's the freak with the "approved name list"? I hope it's just an urban legend, if not, swiss conformism hate basic freedoms.
Many places have them and many authorities can refuse to allow parents to name their children ridiculous names. It's just a protection method for kids which don't have a say in being called something silly or something that will probably hinder their future.
See Chemmie's post earlier in the thread about parents that wanted to call their child Adolf Hitler.
I'm all for freedom of choice but the parents don't have to live with that name and all the judgement that will come crashing down on the poor child all its life.
.... ah, there is a famous austrian actor who's middle name is "Maria".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Maria_Brandauer
I would not listen to anyone. If you want/like the name then it should be it. Unless the swissies let you!
That is a perfect example of how this works. The child has more than one name and the sex is clearly indicated. Maria Brandauer on the other hand would not go through.
Maria was a very common middle name for boys at the end of the 19C (possibly in Catholic families, but not sure about that).
Heinrich Maria Remarque is the Author of the famous novel on the first WW: Nothing new on the Western Front (later converted to a film). He was considered a traitor as he wrote about the horrors and futility of war. Still a good read now, highly recommended.
And this guy was called Shirley ...
I understand what you are saying - and yet, the protection of the child is for me more important than individual freedom to call your child 'Adolf Hitler'- with all what it entails for the child as he grows up (and this court case is in the USA NOT CH). But agreed, it is that bl****y fine line again.
Jura is lovely. BTW inhabitants of the Jura are Jurassiens and Jurassiennes.
What nationality are you and your husband, if you are both non Swiss you can name you child anything you want, as long as it is accepted by your home country, you would have to get a letter from your embassy, or the Swiss autthorities would contact the Swiss Embassy in your home country and ask for guidance if you both have the same nationality. If the parents have seperate nationalities, then it is of course more complicated.
We went through the same problem when we wanted to use each of our surnames in the surnames of our twins, who were born here, since we are unmarried.Firstly they sent us a birth certificate with only my partners Surname on and we sent it back as incorrect. After much negociations and checks, they sent us new birth certificates with both surnames on, ie first surname-second surname. We could only do it because we were non Swiss and it was allowed by our home country.
There isn't an "approved name list". There is just a set of rules of what you are not allowed to do.
...VERY good book! Read it a couple of times and watched the movie as well!
...and thanks for the background info! Very useful!
Doesn't a negative connotation depend on what culture you com from? Some names might be negative for one group while the opposite might be for the next. Isn't it up to individuals to decide on whether a name is negative? My British colleague had a student who came from the US whose name was Birk. Birk was a word that she used as a replacement for "idiot" growing up. So to her, the name Birk had a negative connotation, but in the US, Birk is a perfectly normal name.
Yes, but the rules are for the culture you live in. And as there is a grey area you will have to ask the "Zivilstandesamt" who is in charge to apply the rules.
No, I don't think it's to keep kids from getting bullied or taunted at school as, I had the most WASPy normal name a kid could have and I still got bullied over it. It's what kids do.
The reason these agencies/ministries exist is to preserve cultural consistency for the names of citizens. In the Nordic countries they have a very similar system and it's really easy to pick out kids born to foreigners.
(And the parents who wanted to name their kid AH probably need a psych eval ).
Look at Frank Zappa...Moon Unit and Dweezle. They could have changed their own names if they wanted to at a certain age but, no, they kept them. Thank goodness he didn't live in the EU and wasn't forced to name them Violet and Henry.
Fixed that for you.