REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) - Call her the girl with no name.
A 15-year-old is suing the Icelandic state for the
right to legally use the name given to her by her mother. The problem?
Blaer, which means "light breeze" in Icelandic, is not on a list
approved by the government.
Like a handful of other countries, including
Germany and Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be
named. In a country comfortable with a firm state role, most people
don't question the Personal Names Register, a list of 1,712 male names
and 1,853 female names that fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation
rules and that officials maintain will protect children from
embarrassment. Parents can take from the list or apply to a special
committee that has the power to say yea or nay.
In Blaer's case, her mother said she learned the
name wasn't on the register only after the priest who baptized the child
later informed her he had mistakenly allowed it.
"I had no idea that the name wasn't on the list,
the famous list of names that you can choose from," said Bjork
Eidsdottir, adding she knew a Blaer whose name was accepted in 1973.
This time, the panel turned it down on the grounds that the word Blaer
takes a masculine article, despite the fact that it was used for a
female character in a novel by Iceland's revered Nobel Prize-winning
author Halldor Laxness.
Given names are even more significant in tiny
Iceland that in many other countries: Everyone is listed in the phone
book by their first names. Surnames are based on a parent's given name.
Even the president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, is addressed simply as
Olafur.
Blaer is identified as "Stulka" - or "girl" - on
all her official documents, which has led to years of frustration as she
has had to explain the whole story at the bank, renewing her passport
and dealing with the country's bureaucracy.
Her mother is hoping that will change with her suit, the first time someone has challenged a names committee decision in court.
Though the law has become more relaxed in recent
years - with the name Elvis permitted, inspired by the charismatic rock
and roll icon whose name fits Icelandic guidelines - choices like Cara,
Carolina, Cesil, and Christa have been rejected outright because the
letter "c'' is not part of Iceland's 32-letter alphabet.
"The law is pretty straightforward so in many cases
it's clearly going to be a yes or a no," said Agusta Thorbergsdottir,
the head of the committee, a panel of three people appointed by the
government to a four-year term.
Other cases are more subjective.
"What one person finds beautiful, another person
may find ugly," she acknowledged. She pointed to "Satania" as one
unacceptable case because it was deemed too close to "Satan."
The board also has veto power over people who want
to change their names later in life, rejecting, for instance, middle
names like Zeppelin and X.
When the artist Birgir Orn Thoroddsen applied to
have his name legally changed to Curver, which he had used in one form
or another since age 15, he said he knew full well the committee would
reject his application.
"I was inspired by Prince who changed his name to
The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and Puff Daddy who changed his to P.
Diddy and then Diddy with seemingly little thought or criticism," he
said. "I applied to the committee, but of course I got the 'No' that I
expected."
On his thirtieth birthday, he bought a full-page
advertisement that read, "From February 1, 2006, I hereby change my name
to Curver Thoroddsen. I ask the nation, my friends and colleagues to
respect my decision."
"I can understand a clause to protect children from
being named something like 'Dog poo,' but it is strange that an adult
cannot change his name to what he truly wants," he said.
Thoroddsen is keeping his protest to the media. But
Eidsdottir says she is prepared to take her case all the way to the
country's Supreme Court if a court doesn't overturn the commission
decision on Jan. 25.
"So many strange names have been allowed, which
makes this even more frustrating because Blaer is a perfectly Icelandic
name," Eidsdottir said. "It seems like a basic human right to be able to
name your child what you want, especially if it doesn't harm your child
in any way."
"And my daughter loves her name," she added.
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Dec. 30, 2012: Blaer Bjarkardottir, 15, left, and her mother, Bjork Eidsdottir, are photographed in front of a pond in Reykjavik.
