Egypt could ban parents from giving babies foreign names like "Sam", "Mark" and "Linda"

[hobbits_friend]

“Using such Western names and abandoning Arabic ones will lead to an undesired and radical change in our society and culture,” says Mr Aziz.

‘Foreign’ names could become a far rarer sight in Egypt’s next generations with the proposal of a new ban that could saddle parents with hefty fines or jail terms.

An Egyptian parliamentary committee will

Comments

[sakuraberries]

As an Egyptian whose cousins have been increasingly giving their kids names like "Karen" and "Elaine" this is a little bit hilarious to me. Also...just figures that the Egyptian government is spending their time on this rather than making sure people have enough to eat.

Oh, and a lot of those "Western" names are also traditionally Christian names that Egyptian Copts have, so...

[ladycyndra]

While we're at it, can we ban Hollywood from giving their kids really fucking stupid names, too?

[ladycyndra]

Also, Lara is my maiden name. People HERE couldn't pronounce it right. Ugh.

[soleiltropiques]

Wow.

Something that gets me is how mispronouncing (and/or misspelling) 'foreign sounding' names is basically code for racism. (There's a lot of that shit where I live.)

[ladycyndra]

Yep and it wasn't just white people. It was fellow Hispanic/Mexicans who didn't say it right. I don't get it. I still don't.

[mhfromnh]

you should only ban names that border on child-abuse (Tallulah Does The Hula From Hawaii. google it.)

[moonshaz]

If names with wildly "creative" spellings are included in that, I'm all for it. This is one of my pet peeves,

[mhfromnh]

[soleiltropiques]

lmao

[moonbladem]

Denmark’s law on personal names also rejects ‘Pluto’ and ‘Monkey’ while in New Zealand, parents hoping to name new-borns ‘Stallion’, ‘Fish and Chips’ or ‘Satan’ will be disappointed.

Freedom to name your child whatever you want should be balanced with common sense. I mean, "Fish and Chips"? "Monkey"? WTF?

And the latest one to hit our collective consciousness? Reality Winner.

I mean, parents should realize that, unless and until their children hit the legal age, where they can apply for a name change, they're basically stuck with the names they're given for the rest of their lives. Not to mention the likelihood of their kids being bullied in school because of their names.

That said, the Egyptian MP wanting to ban "western" names? That's overstepping. I'm sure there are other, way more important issues for him to work on.

[wuvvumsoc]

I'm curious; any particular reason to ban Pluto? Is it because it's a god's name?

[moonbladem]

I have no problem with Pluto. Maybe it's the association with Mickey Mouse's dog that they take exception to? I don't know.