Increase in odd names leads DR to consider ban
By RAMON ALMANZAR – 1 day ago

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Names like "Dummy Ruiz" and "Dear Pineapple" may become a thing of the past in the Dominican Republic as officials consider a ban on odd names.

Officials say Dominicans are increasingly giving their children names that are car brands, cartoon characters or even body parts, and a judge has submitted a proposal limiting such names to the Central Electoral Commission.

Examples of strange names in the nation's civil registry include Mazda Altagracia, Toshiba Fidelina, Seno Jimenez (Breast Jimenez), Querida Pina (Dear Pineapple), Tonton Ruiz (Dummy Ruiz) and Querido Familia Perez (Dear Family Perez).

Other names put a spin on the famous, like Winston Churchill de la Cruz or Ernesto Che Perez, the latter a nod to the late Latin American revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara. Others refer to drugs, such as Rambo Mota (Rambo Pot).

Electoral commission judge Jose Angel Aquinas, who submitted the proposal, wrote that names should be rejected that are confusing or that give no indication of gender.

He added that vulgar names, those having more than three words or those difficult to pronounce (unless they are of children born to foreigners) should be banned.

The commission is expected to consider the proposal sometime this year although no date has been set.

Aquinas was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

One judge suggested that instead of banning weird names, civil registry officials should explain to parents the consequences of giving their children such names.

Judge Aura Celeste Fernando said in a statement Tuesday that it is not prudent for the government to have the final say on names parents give their children.

Venezuela sought a similar crackdown two years ago for the same reasons, although officials later rejected the proposal because they said it could violate "the right to liberty."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Jesus how do people come up with such names que asco LOL.

What you think about this name that i heard of Sigfrido Sarita!

Here we had a "Mickey Mouse Car Repair" shop - did not do well with expats....

OK some people are a bit odd, but overall Dominicans have great names ... classical, biblical, modern, just about every style. Hands off JEC, and focus on doing your actual job right!

people should be able to name their kids whatever they goddamn please..enough of the nascent nanny state in DR already!!

Wrong!

Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song "A boy named Sue". When you give a child a silly name THEY pay the price - and that is a long term form of cruelty.

Names from another country can be interesting. I met a guy from Ethiopia - just arrvied in Canada, he said "My name is Woobyshit". I said do you mind if I call you wooby, he said sure, and that a lot of people in Canada had said the same thing but no one explained to him why

While we are at it....

Andy Loveless was getting married to Susan Dyck - so the invitation was to the Loveless Dyck wedding.

Two girls from an Indian family (India) the dad named them Happy and Gifted. Imagine they marry the two Dyck boys.....

Then in Ottawa there is the Outhouse family.....imagine they marry into the Woobyshit family.....and so on it goes...

I'll be damned if anybody tells me what or what I may not name my children. Of course people give their kids idiotic names but that's ridiculous to legislate that. Hey, aren't you the same guy that complains about intrusive government? Aren't you the same guy that went to DR because you're tired of government interfering in your life? By advocating that the state dictate what people should name their offspring you're in effect undermining your own supposed ideology.

On the contrary, they should do as Peru does and fine all those parents irresponsible enough to set their children with ridiculous arse names. You might be insensitive to it because of growing up in the states, but children at dominican schools can be quite as merciless on their bullying and taunting of people unfortunate enough to suffer from the fact. Trust me, I have been witness to more than one case, and the psychological scars left by the fact are not to be taken lightly. No wonder we are the laughing stock of the continent, cuz' liberty exercised without responsibility can do more infinite harm than any dictatorship on its worst day.