Tell me this is really just an Onion article.
QuoteIcelandic girl wins right to use her given name
By GUDJON HELGASON | Associated Press – 13 hrs ago
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A 15-year-old Icelandic girl has been granted the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother, despite the opposition of authorities and Iceland's strict law on names.
Reykjavik District Court ruled Thursday that the name "Blaer" can be used. It means "light breeze."
The decision overturns an earlier rejection by Icelandic authorities who declared it was not a proper feminine name. Until now, Blaer Bjarkardottir had been identified simply as "Girl" in communications with officials.
"I'm very happy," she said after the ruling. "I'm glad this is over. Now I expect I'll have to get new identity papers. Finally I'll have the name Blaer in my passport."
Like a handful of other countries, including Germany and Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be named. Names are supposed to fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules — choices like Carolina and Christa are not allowed because the letter "c'' is not part of Iceland's alphabet.
Blaer's mother, Bjork Eidsdottir, had fought for the right for the name to be recognized. The court ruling means that other girls will be also allowed to use the name in Iceland.
In an interview earlier this year, Eidsdottir said she did not know the name "Blaer" was not on the list of accepted female names when she gave it to her daughter. The name was rejected because the panel viewed it as a masculine name that was inappropriate for a girl.
The court found that based on testimony and other evidence, that the name could be used by both males and females and that Blaer had a right to her own name under Iceland's constitution and Europe's human rights conventions. It rejected the government's argument that her request should be denied to protect the Icelandic language.
Blaer had told the court she was very happy with her name and only had problems with it when she was dealing with state authorities who rejected it.
The court did not grant her any damages. The government has not indicated whether it will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Quote from: katmai on January 31, 2013, 10:20:03 PM
In an interview earlier this year, Eidsdottir said she did not know the name "Blaer" was not on the list of accepted female names when she gave it to her daughter. The name was rejected because the panel viewed it as a masculine name that was inappropriate for a girl.
QuoteIt means "light breeze."
That's not particularly masculine. We don't even call boys "Gale" anymore.
Icelandic culture is doomed
Gudjon is legal? The fuck?
QuoteUntil now, Blaer Bjarkardottir had been identified simply as "Girl" in communications with officials.
How wonderfully Dickensian.
We had a similar situation in Quebec until a few years ago. The Registre de l'État civil could uniterally refuse given names if the department deemed these were unsuited for the child's future well-being, or grossly demeaning the child (like giving the name Bugger or Spatula to a child).
This lead to really silly situations, like a mother having to go to court to explain that Ivory, the given name she wanted to her daughter, was not only a soap brand name but also a white material used for luxury products, thus a positive name that wouldn't be insulting to the child. She won, so the department loosened her requirements and started to give the benefit of the doubt to the mother, unless the name was really meant as an insult to the child.
Disgusting. This girl deserves to be killed.
Quote from: The Brain on January 31, 2013, 11:53:48 PM
Gudjon is legal? The fuck?
My uncle is a Guðjón as well as one of my great grandfathers.
Quote from: The Brain on January 31, 2013, 11:53:48 PM
Gudjon is legal? The fuck?
Is that what the hookers call him?
Quote from: Viking on February 01, 2013, 02:50:57 AM
Quote from: The Brain on January 31, 2013, 11:53:48 PM
Gudjon is legal? The fuck?
My uncle is a Guðjón as well as one of my great grandfathers.
Your uncle is also one of your great grandfathers? And people make fun of Mississippi and West Virginia over inbreeding.
There is actually a list of approved names. It's there to protect the witless (viz any of chris martin and gwyneth paltrow's kids) and to entrench the icelandic nature of the society. You can't use foreign names and you can't use blasphemous names (though the bulk of the list is the exceptions since most icelandic names either refer to god or one of the norse deities and thus provide exemptions). It's silly and old fashoned, but the list came into existence during nationalism when iceland was still trying very very hard not to be danish and the people proved rather uncooperative.
The list is redundant today and the name Blær is so cringeworthingly icelando-teenibopper that I want to hurl.
He mother deserves to be killed and I checked, they be no relations of mine.
Quote from: dps on February 01, 2013, 02:54:43 AM
Quote from: Viking on February 01, 2013, 02:50:57 AM
Quote from: The Brain on January 31, 2013, 11:53:48 PM
Gudjon is legal? The fuck?
My uncle is a Guðjón as well as one of my great grandfathers.
Your uncle is also one of your great grandfathers? And people make fun of Mississippi and West Virginia over inbreeding.
no, my uncle, like myself is named after his grandfather
Blæret.
How was "Bjork" feminine enough when "Blaer" wasn't? :huh:
Quote from: Drakken on February 01, 2013, 12:34:44 AM
We had a similar situation in Quebec until a few years ago. The Registre de l'État civil could uniterally refuse given names if the department deemed these were unsuited for the child's future well-being, or grossly demeaning the child (like giving the name Bugger or Spatula to a child).
We have laws like this as well and I wholeheartedly support them.
Edit: Or maybe I don't. I couldn't care less. At least it weeds out the stupid.
Quote from: Tamas on February 01, 2013, 03:24:44 AM
How was "Bjork" feminine enough when "Blaer" wasn't? :huh:
Björk is traditional while Blær isn't.
Björk is the icelandic name for the birch tree. I think pretty much all trees (except for the ash) are feminine.
Ash and Elm are the norse equivalents of Adam and Eve. So while Eve might be the rib woman in judaism, in asatru the man is the woodman. I've never used Blær in a sentence or ever heard it used so I don't know if it is feminine at all... though I'm leaning towards masculine, though that might just be because storm and wind are masculine. Iceland has birch trees but the wind never dies down enough to have a breeze.
Blaer does sound rather like one of those modern American girls names to my ears at least. But then you furriners are funny.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it bothers me that the government is trying to regulate what people name their kids. On the other, there are certainly disturbed people out there who give their kids offensive names and the state has an certain degree of obligation to protect people from the inevitable abuse that'll come out of that.
For example, there was a case in New Jersey a few years back where these morons actually named their son Adolf Hitler. I forget what the outcome of that was but it's a good illustration of the fact that sometimes government has to protect people from themselves (or their parents, I guess).
Quote from: Tyr on February 01, 2013, 08:24:04 AM
Blaer does sound rather like one of those modern American girls names to my ears at least. But then you furriners are funny.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.zap2it.com%2Fimages%2Ftv-EP00001529%2Fthe-facts-of-life-lisa-whelchel-0.jpg&hash=0be669b35b4f6d5c92b2fceff9282fad86ff12aa)
And they say I find the worst pictures of chicks......
Quote from: Ed Anger on February 01, 2013, 08:36:06 AM
And they say I find the worst pictures of chicks......
I have no vested interest in trying to make Lisa Whelchel look hot. :)
I sense a facts of life poll later.
Quote from: Tyr on February 01, 2013, 08:24:04 AM
Blaer does sound rather like one of those modern American girls names to my ears at least. But then you furriners are funny.
the "æ" is prononuced just like the english personal pronoun "I" and the r is rolled... so pronounciation would be light
"Bligh" - rrrrrrr
as in the captain of the bounty and make a rolling r sound after the captains name.
btw, Blær is a masculin word, i checked.
So in other words, it sounds like someone from Alabama pronouncing 'Blair'. :)
Quote from: Caliga on February 01, 2013, 08:49:42 AM
So in other words, it sounds like someone from Alabama pronouncing 'Blair'. :)
given that we have 14 different vowel sounds in icelandic, no it doesn't, but since Alabama (and new zealand) only have 1 then, yes it does.
Quote from: Ed Anger on February 01, 2013, 08:41:13 AM
I sense a facts of life poll later.
Jo. Not even close.
I have a lot more than 14 different bowel sounds.
Was Tootied the black one or the one with a face like an ass?
I'm an ass man.
Quote from: Martinus on February 01, 2013, 03:59:37 AMAt least it weeds out the stupid.
Actually, it just hides it. If someone introduces themselves as some stupid name, at least you know what you're dealing with. :P
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 01, 2013, 11:25:26 AM
Was Tootied the black one or the one with a face like an ass?
Black one. Kim Fields.
Actually they were all kind of meh, with Jo leading a very weak field. Much fresher bait on Saved by the Bell.
Speaking of bait, I read on article on child pornography restitution in the NYT Sunday magazine (exec. summary: if you're rich and you download a kiddie porn pic you'll be sued for a million dollars to compensate the victim) and learned that child porn was not a federal offense until very recently--like 89 or 91.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 01, 2013, 12:10:38 PM
Actually they were all kind of meh, with Jo leading a very weak field. Much fresher bait on Saved by the Bell.
YOU'RE OBJECTIFYING THEM :mad:
Quote from: Viking on February 01, 2013, 02:57:25 AMThe list is redundant today and the name Blær is so cringeworthingly icelando-teenibopper that I want to hurl.
:yes: