Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a baby...

[MaidMarion]

"Parents look to call newborn ‘Superman’ after government rejects ‘4Real’

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand couple is looking to call their newborn son Superman — but only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry.

Pat and Sheena Wheaton say they will get around the decision by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages by officially naming their son Superman but referring to him as 4Real, the New Zealand Herald newspaper has reported.

The Wheatons decided on the name after seeing the baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realizing their baby was “for real.”

They decided 4Real was the best way to write it, but the name was rejected because the registrar said a name had to be a sequence of characters.

Pat Wheaton said he was considering appealing against the decision through the courts, but whatever happens he won’t be budged on his choice.

“No matter what, it’s going to stay 4Real,” Wheaton told the Herald, “I’m certainly not a quitter.”

A spokesman for the Department of Internal Affairs, which operates the registry, told the Herald discussions with the Wheatons about their son’s name were continuing.

The baby is now 2 months old. The Wheatons first applied to register his name in late June."

[Gemdrite]

I guess I am of two minds about this. I think the name of a child should be up to the parents, and the government shouldn't get a say in it. At the same time, why on earth are these parents trying to subject their child to the relentless torture of gradeschool children by naming him either one of those names?

[Peaches O Malley]

There goes that gene pool getting cloudy again. For goodness sake, why do people insist on sticking their kids with such ridiculous names?? Thats just a playground ass kicking waiting to happen.:roll:

[Phoenix McHeit]

*toddles thru the room, humming "A Boy Named Sue"*

Mebbe they're trying to 'toughen him up'?

[Torra]

In the past, I would have agreed that the government doesn't need to interfere with the naming of a child. But now, look through registries and you find a bunch of ridiculous names, not just "Superman" or "4real". While parents should be allowed to give their children names that have meaning, at the same time, with this uprising of kre8tiv names, children deserve to be protected from their parents' blindness. I believe sometimes the meaning of a name overshadows the thinking of a parent and they forget how cruel kids can be to other kids that "don't fit."

[Jamianne]

I seriously think that some parents don't think their name choices through. It may sound cute at 2, but not so much when the kid's 20 and looking for a job. :roll:

[Gellis Indigo]

I seriously think that some parents don't think their name choices through. It may sound cute at 2, but not so much when the kid's 20 and looking for a job. :roll:


*snicker* I can just imagine how that would go.

Interviewer: "Are you 4real?"
4real: <places hands on hips> "No, I'm Superman!"

[DameGoode]

Oh Phoenix! that is EXACTLY what I thought!

My name is SUE! HOW DO YOU DO?!

[WenchLadyKate]

A friend of my mom's named his kid Justin Case. I thought that was cute, but still... Just an invitation for taunting. Especially since his last name sorta fits. Basically it reads, Just in case, drink water. Yea. Some parents need to lay off the crack, stand back and think things through.

[Pathos]

Nicholas Cage named his kid after Superman. But he was a tad smarter.

He named him Kal-el...which is Superman's "real" name.

[Peaches O Malley]

Nicholas Cage named his kid after Superman. But he was a tad smarter.

He named him Kal-el...which is Superman's "real" name.

4real?? Sorry, couldn't help it. ::whistle::

[surlywench]

I forget if it's Iceland or one of the other nordic countries, but whichever one it is requires that all names come from the approved government list of acceptable names.

:) Maybe that's not such a bad thing....

[Jazperia Silverlion]

And to think I've wasted months and months of precious time deciding on the name for my son.... maybe I should just go with Spiderman or per chance Peter Parker Edwards.

[KissMeKate]

At the same time, why on earth are these parents trying to subject their child to the relentless torture of gradeschool children by naming him either one of those names?

I agree! And what about when the kid starts to spell? I already have some issues with texting language, and these parents are going to start their kid off early! :roll:

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

Nicholas Cage named his kid after Superman. But he was a tad smarter.

He named him Kal-el...which is Superman's "real" name.

Which is pretty ironic, considering that back in 1992, Nicholas Cage hosted SNL and was in a sketch about a man who was trying to be very careful to give his baby a name that wouldn't get him teased:

Baby Names

Wife.....Julia Sweeney
Husband.....Nicholas Cage
Telegram Deliverer.....Rob Schneider

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/92/line.jpg
[ open on a married couple trying to think of a name for their unknown baby ]

Wife: I was thinking about Joseph.

Husband: [ turned off ] Joseph?

Wife: Yeah. Joseph.

Husband: Well.. it's a nice name, but the kids are gonna call him "Joe Blow". I mean, as long as you know that. Or "Sloppy Joe", you know.. "How are Mr. & Mrs. Schmo?"

Wife: Well, I guess that's true..

Husband: I mean, it's a nice name.

Wife: Well, that's alright. How about John? That's nice and simple.

Husband: What, are you serious?

Wife: Well, yeah.

Husband: John? You want to do that to the kid?

Wife: Do what?
Husband: [ mimicking ] "Hey, John! Hey, let's go to the john. Huh, John? Let's go!"

Wife: Well.. wouldn't he outgrow those jokes?

Husband: Look, kids are mean. I just want him to have a happy childhood, too.. but, "Long John Silver"? I mean, I don't know what to say!

Wife: Okay, okay, okay.. Well.. um.. what about Peter?

Husband: Oh, right. Sure. Peter. Let's just put him up for adoption right now, save the kid a lot of agony. I mean, obviously - no Peter, no Dick, no Rod! Can we just discuss this intelligently, please?

Wife: Yes, we can. [ thinking ] Okay.. um.. William.

Husband: William. Good. "Wee Willie!" "Chilly Willy!" "Willie Wonka! Hey! Where's your chocolate factory?! Oompa-Loompa" every day of his life!

Wife: Ddi you get teased a lot as a kid?

Husband: [ defensive ] No, I did not. Did you tease a lot of kids? Because, judging from these names you're picking, you don't seem to be very sensitive.

Wife: Okay, I'll just keep trying.. What about Fred?

Husband: [ sighing ] Please.. Fred, Frank... please, the F's are no good. If he's fat, it's just a disaster.

Wife: Okay, alright. Um.. Sam?

Husband: Great. Sam. "Uncle Sam." "I want you.. to be ostracized!"

Wife: Then, let's Paul.

Husband: Right. Paul. "Hey, Paul, where's Peter and Mary?!"

Wife: What?

Husband: Peter, Paul and Mary. "Hey, Paul! Play me a folk song, and then I'll beat the crap out of you!

Wife: Well, at this point, I'd just settle for anything. How about.. Jack?

Husband: [ thinking ] Hmm.. yeah.. yeah, Jack's a fine name.

Wife: Really?

Husband: Oh, yeah.. as long as we make his middle name O'Lantern! Because that is what everyone's gonna call him!

Wife: Okay.. fine.. what about ben?

Husband: Ben! Oh, fine, we're giving birth to a big bear? Great! "Gentle Ben!" "Hey, Ben, where's Jerry? Get me some ice cream, or I'll beat the crap outta ya'!

Wife: We could call him "Benjamin".

Husband: Sure. Benjamin. Harrison! "Hey, Benjamin, how's that tariff coming?! Montana a state yet?!"

Wife: Well, what about.. Todd?

Husband: [ stretching for an excuse ] Todd.. Todd.. Tad! "Tadpole!" Our son's a tadpole! "Hey, Tadpole, I don't like you! Thank your parents!"

Wife: Now, come on, I said "Todd", not "Tad". You changed the name, that's cheating.

Husband: Yeah, and it took five seconds. It might take a kid ten.

Wife: [ sighing ] Okay.. what about Harry?

Husband: "Hey, Harry, where are the Hendersons?!"

Wife: Oh, come on! Nobody even saw that movie!

Husband: Kids saw it! Alright, one more.. come on, we can do it..

Wife: Alright. Um.. Nate.

Husband: "The Nate Rockne Story." "Hey, Nate, where's the Gipper?"

Wife: What?

Husband: [ pacing the room ] Na-ate! Na-ate! Do you like that sound? Well, you better get used to it! [ his wife walks across the room ] Hey, where are you going?

Wife: [ leafing through book ] I'm looking at this Baby Name book, I thought it could help us.. [ looking through book ] How about Bjaardker?

Husband: [ intrigued ] Oh?

Wife: Bjaardker. It's Icelandic.

Husband: [ considering ] Yeah.. that's a tough little name to crack. That could be good. [ puts his face up to his Wife's belly ] Hey, Bjaardker, little fellow. You might just have a good childhood, after all. [ Wife laughs ] Talk to you later.

Wife: I love you.

Husband: I love you. [ they kiss, as the doorbell rings ] You sit, honey.

Wife: Alright.

Husband: [ answering the door ] Yes?

Telegram Deliverer: Hi, how you doing? I've got a telegram here for a Mr. & Mrs. Asswipe Johnson. I'm supposed to read it. [ holds telegram ] "Dear Asswipe & Emily: Congratulations on your upcoming blessed event. All our love, Bob & Diane." Here you go, Sir. [ hands him the telegram ]

Husband: Uh.. listen.. that's "Os-wee-pay".

Telegram Deliverer: [ confused ] What?

Husband: Uh.. forget it, forget it.. [ closes the door and sits next to his wife ]

Wife: That was really nice of Bob and Diane.

Husband: [ sighs ] Yeah, but why do they have to mention my name so much?

Wife: Oh, honey..

[ fade ]

[Pathos]

Husband: Sure. Benjamin. Harrison! "Hey, Benjamin, how's that tariff coming?! Montana a state yet?!"
HA HA!!!

[Peaches O Malley]

And to think I had an issue with Stephanie as a kid. :roll: Hell, even my parents call me Peaches.*rotfl*

[lavender r dragon]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/oukoe_uk_china_language
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@", claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said on Thursday.

The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words.

"The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.

While the "@" simple is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word "at" to sound it out -- which with a drawn out "T" sounds something like "ai ta", or "love him", to Mandarin speakers.

Li told a news conference on the state of the language that the name was an extreme example of people's increasingly adventurous approach to Chinese, as commercialisation and the Internet break down conventions.

Another couple tried to give their child a name that rendered into English sounds like "King Osrina."

Li did not say if officials accepted the "@" name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals, foreign languages and symbols that do not belong to Chinese minority languages.

Sixty million Chinese faced the problem that their names use ancient characters so obscure that computers cannot recognise them and even fluent speakers were left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a transcript of the briefing on the government Web site (www.gov.cn).

One of them was the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name had a rare "rong" character that gave newspaper editors headaches.

[WenchLadyKate]

"Ai ta" is actually 3 syllables, "ah ee tah" which sounds pretty. But why not just name the kid Ai Ta? Means the same. It's like Prince having a symbol for a name. Duh. What the hell is wrong with these people?

[Jamianne]

I was discussing this with my parents the other day and apparently, my uncle Bruce's middle name is Wayne - and it's apparently not an accident. I had to laugh. I had no idea. :roll:

[grygrrl]

I C a whole lotta ass whuppins in THAT kids future. That being said, the government needs to stay the ?<#@ out of it. The parents also deserve an ass kicking...what a name to stick a poor kid with!