4.0818 French Naming Law (6/115)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 5 Dec 90 21:04:19 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0818. Wednesday, 5 Dec 1990.


(1) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 90 20:59 EDT (35 lines)
From: Jean Veronis <VERONIS@vassar.bitnet>
Subject: Re: 4.0809 French Naming Law

(2) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 90 21:29:26 EST (8 lines)
From: Bernard_van't_Hul@ub.cc.umich.edu
Subject: 4.0806 Qs: ... French Naming Law

(3) Date: Tue, 04 Dec 90 22:10 EST (17 lines)
From: "Dr. Joel Goldfield" <JOEL@DUKEMVS.BITNET>
Subject: French name law

(4) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 90 9:58 GMT (18 lines)
From: Catherine Griffin <CATHERINE@vax.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: 4.0809 French Naming Law

(5) Date: Wed, 05 Dec 90 10:09:00 EST (21 lines)
From: Michel Pierssens <R36254@UQAM>
Subject: French Naming Law

(6) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 90 09:30:00 EST (16 lines)
From: Michael_Kessler.Hum@mailgate.sfsu.edu
Subject: French Naming Law

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 90 20:59 EDT
From: Jean Veronis <VERONIS@vassar.bitnet>
Subject: Re: 4.0809 French Naming Law

There is a restriction on *first* names in the French law. A first
name, given to a child by its parents, cannot be offensive or cause
prejudice to the child (or other people) in any way. You can think of
all the problems of interpretation that this may cause, especially in
the view of the fact that the decision is made by some city hall
officer... If you stick to the catholic saints (the calendar), no
problem. Otherwise, everything can happen. I am joking. Nowadays,
these officers are instructed to accept all the other
religious/ethnic/traditional first names. A number of cases go to court
anyway.

I remember two recent exemples. The first one came from parents who
wanted to name their child "cerise", which means "cherry". It is not
known a first name in French, or any religion or ethnic group. The
officer found that this could cause later prejudice to the child. So,
the parents went to court, and won. Another very interesting case was
when Chanel perfumes sued parents for using a copyrighted brand as a
first name, on the basis that the name was their property, and
mis/over-use would cause prejudice to them. I am not sure who won,
because the issue was confused by the existence of an old name Channel
(with two n), or something like that.

There is no such provision for last names. If I have a terrible name,
it is the way it is, but my children are allowed to have it. They may
ask for a change, but it is not quite simple. In cases where the name
is really a problem for the person (offensive words, Hitler, etc.),
courts agree to the changes.

Jean Veronis
ps: thanks for this refreshing question. It helps to see such topics
when you have been grading computer programs all afternoon...

(2) --------------------------------------------------------------20----
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 90 21:29:26 EST
From: Bernard_van't_Hul@ub.cc.umich.edu
Subject: 4.0806 Qs: Kowalski-Wierusz; French Naming Law (2/22)

David Allerton, Englisches Seminar, Universitaet Basel,
Nadelberg 6, Basel, Switzerland
(not on bitnet or internet, I THINK) is good on English AND
continental laws re the naming of babies.

(3) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 90 22:10 EST
From: "Dr. Joel Goldfield" <JOEL@DUKEMVS.BITNET>
Subject: French name law

My knowledge of the French name law is limited to one first-hand
anecdote from a former graduate student colleague in Montpellier
who was a Tunis native married to a French Catholic of Polish
ancestry. The city would not allow them to name their son
"Yanis," an Arabic name, since the mother was a Christian (the
father was a Moselm retaining Tunisian nationality). Instead,
they "recommended" the name "Ian," which was close. In fact,
the civil authorities simply registered him that way. I believe
that the authority could have been at the prefecture level, rather
than city level, but am not sure.

Regards,
Joel D. Goldfield

(4) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 90 9:58 GMT
From: Catherine Griffin <CATHERINE@vax.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: 4.0809 French Naming Law (2/38)

I was born in Paris in the prehistoric era which only those of great
antiquity can remember, when WWII was about to break, and de Gaulle was
just approaching his finest hour. My father went to the Registry to
name me Maulde (an old French name), and was told, thank God, that this
could not be allowed as a first name, as it was not in the Saints'
calendar. As in France you had only a short time to register your
child, and that time was just expiring, my father decided on the spot to
give me Catherine as a first name; Maulde was then permitted as a middle
name. I do not know what the legal position is now, but I have always
been grateful to the authorities for giving me an alternative name, one
where I wouldn't be asked where it came from, how it was pronounced and
how it was spelt, where it came from , etc.

Catherine (M.) Griffin

(5) --------------------------------------------------------------24----
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 90 10:09:00 EST
From: Michel Pierssens <R36254@UQAM>
Subject: French Naming Law

The question of legal first names remains a very sensitive topic in
France, a very centralized system that has a hard time adjusting to
regional realities. The basic rule is that names must be drawn from
either the Roman catholic calendar with its roster of saints, or the
revolutionary calendar of 1790 (I don't remember the exact date when it
was established). Which means that a French baby could in principle be
named "Charette" or "Rateau" or "Fraternite", etc. But officials
registering the names have a discretionary power to reject names that
could make one look ridiculous. They also have the poweer to accept
names that have a regional currency, or from foreign origin, as long as
the family belongs to the region or comes from a foreign country.
Actually, there is now a lot of uncertainty as to what is acceptable
and what not. One way to have your child bear any name you wish is to
have it born in a different country. The French accept that local law
takes precedence and the local French officials can but record what has
been accepted by the country's authorities. It is the case in Canada
where -- as horrified French officials concede -- "anything goes"!

(6) --------------------------------------------------------------26----
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 90 09:30:00 EST
From: Michael_Kessler.Hum@mailgate.sfsu.edu
Subject: French Naming Law

Leslie Morgan's *Time* story may have derived from an old joke which
runs about this way:

An Alsacian was named Wache, which the French insisted on pronouncing
their way, and that eventually the spelling conformed and became Vache,
which was bad enough as is. When the Germans took over once more,
they insisted on Germanicizing all the French names, and the family name
became Kuh. So when Alsace became French again the man understandably
went to the _mairie_ to have a legal change of family name to Dupont or
some other good French name.

MKessler@HUM.SFSU.EDU