Father fights Quebec decision to reject middle name 'Avalanche' for baby

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MONTREAL - A government challenge to a Montreal couple's decision to give their baby the middle name "Avalanche" has created a bit of a rumble.

William Azeff was originally told in a letter from the province's Registrar of Civil Status that he and his wife couldn't dub their baby boy with the popular first name "Logan."

But the agency has backed off from that, citing a translation error, and said it actually objected to the family giving the now six-month-old baby the middle name "Avalanche."

"I'm not new to this," says Azeff, who went through a similar situation when his other son was born three-and-a-half years ago.

"They objected to his middle name, which is Glacier."

Azeff said it took three months for the registrar to approve the name Glacier. The father's reply in Logan's case cites examples where nature has been used as an inspiration for names and Avalanche has been used as a name.

Marie Godbout, a spokeswoman for the Registrar of Civil Status, said Monday that provincial law allows the registrar to step in when it thinks a child may be getting an uncommon name that might subject them to ridicule.

"It's always in the best interests of the child that the Registrar of Civil Status intervenes with parents to ask them to consider replacing a first name with another," she said.

The parents are asked to explain why they chose the name and "usually the replies are serious and are taken into consideration."

Godbout said the initial letter to Azeff was an error because the original French-language letter to him and his wife had been translated into English before it was sent and the wrong name was challenged in the translation.

"There is no problem with the first name Logan. It's the name Avalanche that the registrar is asking the parents to reconsider or explain."

In the past, the registrar has had parents reconsider giving their children such names as Goldorak, Boom-Boom, Salaud (a vulgar French term meaning whore or creep), Lucifer and Jazzouille.

One of the most widely publicized challenges was a 1996 incident where a couple wanted to call their child "Spatule," which is French for a spoon-billed bird but also translates as spatula, a kitchen tool. The child was not named Spatule in the end.

The agency lost a court case in 1997 launched by a couple who gave their daughter the middle name C'est-un-Ange (It's an angel).

Azeff, an environmentally conscious resort developer, says there's nothing wrong with the middle name he and his wife chose. He pointed out there's no shortage of people using nature for inspiration, citing names like Rose and Violet as examples.

"The whole thing is, it's a middle name," Azeff said of Logan Avalanche. "It's not like (it's) his first name and it's not anything insulting or mean." Logan is named for Canada's highest peak but Avalanche doesn't refer to any specific incident.

Azeff says Glacier is a perfect fit for his first son.

It was originally Brant's nickname when he was in the womb but Azeff says the tot started skiing when he was 14 months old and now likes to hike in the mountains with his Dad.

"There couldn't be a more appropriate middle name for him."
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This made me laugh. :lol:
 
There was a similar battle in the Swedish courts a few years ago when a couple was told to rename their child when the name exceeded 30 characters, as in the first name alone was more than 30 characters long.

But here in the US they really need this as there are people that just really have a difficult time picking out a decent name for their child.... one name that stands out Bakiwa and Joshooah Jayveeann. The mother of Joshooah Jayveeann ins't the brightest bulb in the box and her first child is named Andreyas DeShawn. Luckily her middle child is named Destinee Nickole. Not the best spelling but at least it's not way out there.
 
There was a kid in my high school named Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert III. That means both his father and grandfather had that name!
 
faire_jour said:
There was a kid in my high school named Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert III. That means both his father and grandfather had that name!
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I was thumbing through the pages of my old yearbooks from elementary school. There was a kid named Harry Peters in there. Some 3rd or 4th grader I believe. :giggle:
 
Seriously, these people need to stop coming up with weird names like that.

They don't realize the kind of future they're going to be putting their kids through when they get older. :roll:
 
oh great.... before - there was an incident the baker refused to print the daughter's name on the birthday cake because of ADOLF HITLER or something as her middle name... and now this? :roll:
 
Dixie said:
I was thumbing through the pages of my old yearbooks from elementary school. There was a kid named Harry Peters in there. Some 3rd or 4th grader I believe. :giggle:
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*ahem*

Oh boy. What a name.
 
My friend named her son Aspen Gucci. I didnt know what to say to her.
 
I know people whose name is Angel, Star, Roger

and I see nothing wrong with them. I don't think people should be telling people they can't name their child certain way unless it is a demeaning name (or names that can be mistaken for verbal abuse) such as stupid.

can you imagine someone naming their child "Stupid"

"Come here, Stupid". "Eat your dinner, Stupid".
 
Looking at my classroom roster ...

Ugh...I wish there was a law regulating what parents name their kids!
 
Kid's name is really important...for example, your name on a resume can cost you the opportunity to get an interview.

I heard that girls with gender-neutral names get more job opportunities than girls with traditional girl names.
 
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