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Originally Posted by mangajunky
wait a sec - I went into the slide show on that article and there's a snippet that says That's messed up!! - but I can't find any info on the net to corroborate this statement. Is this even true?
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Maybe there used to be a list a long time ago - I believe it was a legacy from the French Revolution - but the current law makes virtually any first name possible – unless it is deemed "contrary to the welfare of the child"…
Here is what the law says:
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCodeArticle.do;jsessionid=56C84CA4384AA3D2FD 4971C2F923C9BD.tpdjo10v_3?idArticle=LEGIARTI000006 420911&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006070721&dateTexte=200 80805
With a translation here:
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/c...ivil_textA.htm
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Art. 57
(Act of 7 Feb. 1924)
A record of birth shall indicate the day, the time and the place of birth, the sex of the child ["the first names given to him, the family name followed if there is occasion by the mention of the joint declaration of his parents as regards the choice made," (Act n° 2002-304 of 4 March 2002, Act n° 2003-516 of 18 June 20031] and, the first names, names, ages, occupations and domiciles of the father and mother, and if there is occasion, those of the applicant. If the father and mother of an illegitimate child, or one of them, are not indicated to the officer of civil status, nothing may be mentioned on the registers on this subject.
(Act n° 93-22 of 8 Jan. 1993) The first names of the child shall be chosen by his father and mother. "A woman who asked to keep her identity secret at the time of the delivery may make known the first names she desires to be given to the child. Otherwise, or where his parents are unknown, the officer of civil status chooses three first names the last of which shall take the place of a patronymic [replaced by "family name" (Act n° 2002-304 of 4 March 20021] to the child " (Act n° 96-604 of 5 July 1996). The officer of civil status shall write down at once the chosen first names on the record of birth. Any first name entered on the record of birth may be chosen as the usual first name.
Where these first names or one of them, alone or combined with the other first names or the name, appear to him to be contrary to the welfare of the child or to the rights of third parties to the protection of their patronymics [replaced by "family names" (Act n° 2002-304 of 4 March 20021)], the officer of civil status shall give notice thereof to the Government procurator* without delay. The latter may refer the matter to the family causes judge*.
Where the judge considers that the first name is not consonant with the welfare of the child or interferes with the rights of third parties to the protection of their patronymics [replaced by "family names" (Act n° 2002-304 of 4 March 20011], he shall order its removal from the registers of civil status. Where appropriate, he shall give the child another first name which he himself fixes in the absence of a new choice by the parents that be consonant with the interests aforesaid. A mention of the judgment shall be entered in the margin of the records of civil status of the child.
1 Shall come into force on 1 Jan. 2005
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edit: I did some more research and can't help posting the results here:
Apparently, the legislation was always quite restrictive for the choice of first names, but this changed in 1993 with a new law that was much more flexible...
Here is what wikipedia (
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nom_(dr...s_pr.C3.A9noms) says:
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Le choix des prénoms
Le choix appartient aux parents. Les prénoms doivent être mentionnés dans le bon ordre. La loi du 8 janvier 1993 a modifié la loi du 11 germinal an XI. Autrefois, le choix des prénoms n’était pas libre mais réglementé. Lorsque le prénom choisi ne correspondait pas à une liste (calendriers...), l’officier d’état civil devait refuser d’enregistrer ce prénom. Cette réglementation posait un problème. Il appartenait au maire d’enregistrer ou non les prénoms et certains maires étaient moins contentieux que les autres.
La loi du 8 janvier 1993 inverse le principe : la liberté dans le choix des prénoms. La nouvelle réglementation est incorporée à l’article 57 du Code civil français : « l’officier d’état-civil doit enregistrer les prénoms qui lui sont donnés quels qu’ils soient. » Toutefois, le législateur a voulu éviter que certains parents affublent leurs enfants de prénoms difficiles à porter. En effet, s’il semble à l’officier que le prénom est contraire à l’intérêt de l’enfant, il doit l’enregistrer quand même mais aviser le procureur de la République. Ce dernier peut alors saisir le juge aux affaires familiales qui statuera alors.
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And here is some more info on the French legislation on first names:
http://www.prenoms.com/legis/
It's all in French but in case someone happens to be fascinated by the topic, I reckon he could have it translated online.