Thu, 9 February 2012
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Parents of new-born babies all over the world have very different options in their choice of given names.
Early this year Morocco has caused some unrest among the Diaspora, by circulating a list among its consulates, defining which names are allowed and which are not if the child is to carry a Moroccan passport. It turned out that only Arabic names were on the approved list, denying Moroccans of Berber or other minority origins the right to name their offspring according to their own traditions.
This caused considerable upheaval among both Moroccans in the Netherlands and the Dutch themselves, official questions were asked in parliament and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen was urged to raise the matter with the Moroccan authorities.
Unusual choice
Like in most Western European countries the issue of how a child may or may not be called in the Netherlands itself is dealt with in a moderately liberal way.
There once was a list of permitted first names, but this was abolished long ago, when many immigrants arrived and many lawyers and civil servants had to spend lots of time granting exceptions to the rule.
Since then, basically any name is allowed, as long as it is not ridiculous, absurd or obscene. The registrar at the city council being the judge of this.
Minor accidents slip through the net, though. Recently in the Netherlands, a young baby girl was christened Usnavy [pronounced Us-na-vee].
The official at the registry – maybe still half asleep from a severe weekend or otherwise slightly drowsy – did not realise what he was writing down.
When later the parents were asked about this unusual choice of name, they declared that during a holiday in Miami, Florida, they had seen a ship passing by that had such a beautiful name written on it.
They wished to call their baby daughter after that ship. On the ship’s side it read: US Navy.
José Cutileiro
Radio Netherlands
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