Some call her the girl with no name…
One 15-year-old girl is suing the country of Iceland for the right to legally use the name her mother gave her.
The problem?
Blaer, which means “light breeze” in Icelandic, is not on a list approved by the government.
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Like a handful of other countries, including Germany and Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be named. Most people have never questioned the Personal Names Register, which is a list of 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names that fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules and that officials maintain will protect children from embarrassment.
Parents can take from the list or apply to a special committee that has the power to say ‘Yup’ or ‘Nay’ to the desired kid’s name.
Blaer and her mum, Bkork are suing the Icelandic government.
In Blaer’s case, her mother said she learned the name wasn’t on the register only after the priest who baptised her daughter later informed her he had mistakenly allowed it.
“I had no idea that the name wasn’t on the list, the famous list of names that you can choose from,” said Bjork Eidsdottir, adding she knew a Blaer whose name was accepted in 1973.
The Personal Names Register panel turned down ‘Blaer’ on the grounds that the word itself takes a masculine article, meaning it could cause hassle for Blaer herself.
For now, Blaer is identified as “Stulka”, or “girl”, on all her official documents, which has led to years of frustration as she has had to explain the whole story at the bank, renewing her passport and dealing with the country’s bureaucracy.
Her mother is hoping that will change with her lawsuit, the first time someone has challenged a names committee decision in court.
Though the law has become more relaxed in recent, choices like Cara, Carolina, Cesil, and Christa have been rejected outright because the letter “c” is not part of Iceland’s 32-letter alphabet.
“The law is pretty straightforward so in many cases it’s clearly going to be a yes or a no,” said Agusta Thorbergsdottir, the head of the committee, a panel of three people appointed by the government to a four-year term.
“So many strange names have been allowed, which makes this even more frustrating because Blaer is a perfectly Icelandic name,” Blaer’s mum said. “It seems like a basic human right to be able to name your child what you want, especially if it doesn’t harm your child in any way.”
“And my daughter loves her name,” she added.
