I Blame The Parents…
A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated – Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing.
Parents called their child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii?? I’m not convinced anyone who does that should be considered sufficiently responsible to be allowed to look after children… and what do you mean, “could expose her to teasing”? Could? If she hasn’t already been mercilessly tormented for the stupid name her imbecilic parents chose to bestow upon her, I’d be very surprised.
Now I’m not saying you can’t have unusual names. One of my children has quite an unusual name, and in my entire school career I never encountered another ‘Jack’ (it appeared from nowhere into the Top 10 of boys names in around 1990 and has been there ever since — I like to think because I’ve popularised it), but they are both recognisably names.
When you’re naming a child, you’re giving that child something that they will (probably) carry for all of their life. It needs to be a name that they can grow into, one that can represent them, rather than being some idiotic idea you’ve had about it sounding nice. It’s just as ridiculous as the names people give to pedigree dogs….
Mike says:
July 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Have to say that until I know more I’m giving the parents the benefit of the doubt on this one. For instance: is the family name ‘Hawaii’?
If it is, Talulah Hawaii, isn’t all that bad, qute cool in fact (nobody ever really needs to know about the rest). Are they some kind of entertainment family? I would imagine having the name Talulah … Hawaii might stand the girl in good stead if she ever decides to go into Burlesque!
Making her a ward of court does seem a tad extreme in the absence of other abuse…
JackP says:
July 29th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
As I understand it, this all came about during a custody battle when her parents split. She was temporarily made a ward of court during the custody battle, during which time the court had the power (at the girl’s request) to change her name.
And I’d bet that wasn’t her surname — the family’s surname wasn’t reported anywhere… but I agree, “Tallulah Hawaii” is fine; a bit exotic maybe, but fine. The added ‘does the Hula from’ bit however tips it over the edge…
Possibly more frightening is the child the parents attempted to name “no 16. bus shelter”. Or the twins the parents wanted to call “fish and chips”.
duncan says:
August 1st, 2008 at 10:29 am
There’s a good chapter in Freakonomics about the values of baby names. Excerpts:
http://www.slate.com/id/2116449/
http://www.slate.com/id/2116505/
http://freakonomicsbook.com/thebook/ch6.html
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