Some people get carried away with their children’s names, in my humble opinion. There almost seems to be a competition on who can come up with the most creative name.

Leading the famous – or infamous, depending on how you look at their lifestyle – pack could be Kanye and Kim West with their choice of baby names: North West (girl), Saint West (boy) and Chicago West (girl). I’m sure the couple had valid reasons for naming their children, but I can imagine those creative selections could cause difficulty for the children later.

For me, unique spellings can create a real problem. I ask everyone to spell their name for me. It doesn’t matter how generic your name sounds, John Smith, I’m going to ask you to spell it. My request has raised an eyebrow or two over the years and at least one snide comment, but those people have no idea what’s going on in the child-naming world today.

I’ve jokingly thought there should be some approval process for child naming. It would prevent parents from going too far and dooming their children to a lifetime of possible torment. Then, recently, I was scanning the world news and saw that a couple in France is being taken to court because they named their daughter Liam, a name traditionally reserved for boys.

By the report, a public prosecutor wants to ban the family from using this name because it “would be likely to create a risk of gender confusion” for the child down the road and naming a girl Liam is “contrary to the interest of the child and could harm her in her social relations.” 

Are they serious? Yes, France takes baby naming very seriously. So much so, that a law there states a court can ban baby names if they decide it is against the child’s best interest. I had no idea.

With a few online searches, I found several instances where France courts have intervened in names parents selected for their children:

• Courts were amused when a couple wanted to name their child Happy or “Joyeux” in French. The name was rejected due to “fantastical, almost ridiculous nature, that could create difficulties and actual embarrassment for the child.”

• Babord and Tribord were also rejected by a court. Those names are translated to “port” and “starboard” sides of a boat.

• Michael Jackson fans wanted to name their child MJ in 2010. Little MJ wasn’t allowed to keep his name.

• Nutella and Strawberry were banned. The judge through both girls would be mocked as they grew up.

This list of court interventions could go on and on and on, but my column cannot. Space is limited.

My joke aside, I’m against those types of name restrictions. I do have one request of parents: If you go unique with the spelling of your child’s name or invent a completely new name, be understanding when others spell it wrong or say it wrong. You, literally, created that issue.

Standard reporter Lisa Hobbs can be reached at 473-2191.