Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / July 2008

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/parents-lose-cu.html

Parents lose custody after naming girl 'Talula Does the Hula From
Hawaii'
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Some names are so weird they constitute child abuse, according to a
court in New Zealand.

The family court judge reached that conclusion after hearing evidence
in the case of a girl named "Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii."

"A lawyer for Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii had reported the 9-year-
old was so embarrassed about her name that she had not revealed it to
her friends and was other wise known as 'K,'" New Zealand Herald
reports. "The lawyer said the girl feared being mocked and teased, and
had a better insight about the situation than her parents, who
appeared not to have given any thought to implications of giving their
child such a name."

Judge Rob Murfitt placed TDTHFH "under the guardianship of the court"
pending the selection of a new name. "It makes a fool of the child and
sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he writes,
according to the Taranaki Daily News.

In his ruling, which was written in February and released this week,
Murfitt shared some of the other unusual names that Kiwis have
selected for their children, including one who was named O.crnia,
which was how her mother spelled "Oceania" in text messages.

He says children have been named Violence, Midnight Chardonnay and
Number 16 Bus Shelter. Twins were named Benson and Hedges.

"It's not about unusual names, it's about objectionable names.
Something being unusual or funny or what some people might consider
silly might not be offensive to an unusual person," Tony Wallace, a
spokesman for the Internal Affairs Department, tells the Daily News.
"There's no reason not to accept Cinderella Beauty Blossom or
Kaos." (Here's more from Wallace.)

The government tells various news organizations that parents were
blocked from giving these names to their children: Fish and Chips,
Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucky, Sex Fruit, Fat
Boy, Satan, Adolf Hitler and 4Real.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/24/familyandrelationships.newzea
land?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Parents lose custody of girl for naming her Talula Does the Hula From
HawaiiBarbara McMahon in Sydney guardian.co.uk, Thursday July 24 2008
Article history
A nine-year-old girl whose parents named her Talula Does the Hula From
Hawaii was put into court guardianship in New Zealand so that her name
could be changed.

A family court judge, Rob Murfitt, gave the order after hearing that
the child was embarrassed about her name and had refused to reveal it
to friends. "She told people her name was K because she feared being
mocked and teased," the child's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the
court.

The judge criticised parents who give their offspring bizarre names,
saying it exposed children to ridicule among their peers.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment that
this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool
of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap,
unnecessarily," he said.

He said the child had a better insight about the situation than her
parents, who had apparently not given any thought to the implications
of their actions. The judge criticised the growing trend of parents
choosing out-of-the-ordinary names for their children.

In his written ruling, he said names such as Stallion, Yeah Detroit,
Fish and Chips, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit were
prohibited by registration officials. Others that were permitted
included twins called Benson and Hedges, other children called
Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter and, the judge added,
"tragically, Violence". Another mother tried to use text language for
her child's name, he said.

The ruling was handed down in February but only came to light in law
reports issued today. The girl, who had been at the centre of a
custody battle, has since changed her name, but it was not revealed in
order to protect her privacy.

Brian Clarke, the registrar general of births, deaths and marriages,
said New Zealand law did not allow names that would cause offense to a
reasonable person. He said officials were usually successful in
dissuading parents from giving their children embarrassing names.