No, that isn\’t the title of Pink Floyd\’s new album. It came to my mind after reading this article.
The Reader\’s Digest version is that a couple in Sweden is trying to name their baby girl \”Metallica\”. What stuck me about this article is that they are \”trying\” to name their baby. In America you can name your kid (or yourself) whatever you\’d like. I met one guy who had changed his name legally to Cadillac. That\’s it. There is Prince who changed his name to an unpronouncable glyph. Several people have named their children ESPN, and the Hawkins family named one of their sons LaTroy.
But in Sweden the local tax authority, something akin to our social security office, has rejected the name \”Metallica\” for the little girl. I can see people thinking that is for the best, I mean really, what little girl could possibly embody \”Metallica\”? But I was quite shocked that in a progressive country like Sweden the government has the ability to reject names for children. Am I alone on this?
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