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Strange (stupid?) names for kids in Venezuela

Sixty sets of Venezuelan parents named their child Hitler. What a bunch of idiots!

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September 5, 2007
Caracas Journal
A Culture of Naming That Even a Law May Not Tame
By SIMON ROMERO

CARACAS, Venezuela, Sept. 4 — Goodbye, Tutankamen del Sol.

So long, Hengelberth, Maolenin, Kerbert Krishnamerk, Githanjaly, Yornaichel, Nixon and Yurbiladyberth. The prolifically inventive world of Venezuelan baby names may be coming to an end.

If electoral officials here get their way, a bill introduced last week would prohibit Venezuelan parents from bestowing those names — and many, many others — on their children.

The measure would not be retroactive. But it would limit parents of newborns to a list of 100 names established by the government, with exemptions for Indians and foreigners, and it is already facing skepticism in the halls of the National Assembly.

“I need to know how they would define those 100 names,�? said Jhonny Owee Milano Rodríguez, a congressman representing Cojedes State. “For example, why not 120? This seems arbitrary to me.�?

Mr. Milano, 55, said his first name, Jhonny, spelled as such, was inspired by the international ambience of the oil town in eastern Venezuela where he was born. Owee, he said, was erroneously entered in the birth registry instead of Oved.

The bill’s ambition, according to a draft submitted to municipal offices here for review, is to “preserve the equilibrium and integral development of the child�? by preventing parents from giving newborns names that expose them to ridicule or are “extravagant or hard to pronounce in the official language,�? Spanish.

The bill also aims to prevent names that “generate doubts�? about the bearer’s gender.

Some of Mr. Milano’s colleagues in the National Assembly, which is controlled by supporters of President Hugo Chávez, include Iroshima Jennifer Bravo Quevedo, Earle José Herrera Silva and Grace Nagarith Lucena Rosendy. Legislators need to approve the bill before it becomes law.

Whimsical names can also be found in other Latin American countries. Honduras has first names like Ronald Reagan, Transfiguración and Compañía Holandesa (Dutch Company), according to the newspaper El Heraldo. In Panama, local news media this year reported name-change efforts by an Esthewoldo, a Kairovan and a Max Donald.

But Venezuela’s naming tradition rivals or exceeds that of its neighbors, many people here say. Some first names in Venezuela include Haynhect, Olmelibey, Yan Karll and Udemixon, according to a list compiled by the novelist Roberto Echeto.

Other names here easily roll off the tongue in English, like Kennedy or John Wayne, or in Russian, like Pavel or Ilich, reflecting influences from the cold war era.

Municipal clerks’ offices, where parents register their children, have become forums for debating the possible restrictions.

“The children of my cousins are named Keiserlin, Jeiserlin, Keifel, Yurubi, Arol Kiling,�? said Leidy Marrero, 29, a budget analyst. Ms. Marrero named her newborn daughter Mariángela, combining María and �?ngela.

“It’s a question of taste,�? she said in an interview at the clerk’s office in the San Bernardino district of Caracas, explaining her opposition to the measure. “It is a parent’s right.�?

Some parents exercise that right more liberally than others.

Software searches of the voter registry find more than 60 people of voting age with the first name Hitler, including Hitler Adonys Rodríguez Crespo; eight Hochiminhs, among them Hochiminh Jesús Delgado Sierra; and six Eisenhowers, including Dwight Eisenhower Rojas Barboza.

Unusual names in Venezuela are often grist for awe or humor, but the issue is also politicized, given President Chávez’s gusto for renaming things, with critics of the bill claiming it would enhance his government’s naming authority in a realm where the fancy of parents still holds sway.

One of the president’s first moves was to change the country’s name from Republic of Venezuela to Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Part of Avenida Páez here has been renamed Avenida Teheran in a nod to Iran. The currency, the bolívar, is to be called the “bolívar fuerte,�? or strong bolívar, starting next year.

In an editorial, the newspaper El Nacional described the measure as “malicious.�?

The authorities may yet bend to public will. Germán Yépez, an official with the National Electoral Council, said the measure originated after children were given names like Superman and Batman. Still, he said in comments broadcast on radio, he welcomed “this type of positive reaction and suggestions.�?

Not everyone denounces the bill. Temutchin del Espíritu Santo Rojas Fernández, 25, a computer programmer, explained that his first name was inspired by the birth name of Genghis Khan, often spelled Temujin in English. He said he frequently had to correct the spelling of his name on official documents.

And in Venezuela, where the tax authorities require name and national identity number for every purchase needing a receipt, pronouncing and spelling out Temutchin del Espíritu Santo can get tiring, Mr. Rojas Fernández said. “With a name this complicated, you lose time,�? he said.

“It also creates social problems,�? he continued. “When interacting with others, not everyone can pronounce your name. I have to pronounce my name five times and spell it twice.�?

José Orozco contributed reporting.

By Tinto (Moderator) on Sep 10, 2007, 15:30 in Off Topic.

gabolicious says on Sep 10, 2007, 18:28:

I work for a bank in the Latinamerican market.. so I have access to a bunch of latin id's, and venezuelans along with the boricuas have the most hilarious names... and yeah they are a bunch of idiots!!!

"The new land of opportunities: Colombia!" ----- Mr Miguel_Clavo on PBH

houstongal says on Sep 10, 2007, 20:00:

I've always wondered about what some parents were thinking when they named their kids. I think some just thought it would be funny to name their kids something unusual. This sounds like a fun thread....anyone with funny names that they've seen?

In Houston Ima Hogg is well known (a wealthy woman).

gabolicious says on Sep 11, 2007, 05:29:

I have seen "onecén" taken ,according to the guy, from "one cent"... i had seen this before in a book, but a month ago I saw it on an ID.... yeah boricua....

"The new land of opportunities: Colombia!" ----- Mr Miguel_Clavo on PBH

msaucey says on Sep 11, 2007, 11:07:

I know there was talk about the naming of a child "shithead" in the states, but I think it's an urban legend... But, I've heard the name Dimentia around....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

Man Tequila says on Sep 11, 2007, 11:48:

Good for a laugh.

http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.asp

pues se me antoja que sus cantares son de una tierra desconocida, y yo le dije si a usted le inspira, saber la tierra de donde soy... con mucho gusto y a mucho honor...

LA_MONA says on Sep 11, 2007, 12:08:

I think it ISN'T a parents right to give their offspring stupid names that will end up in no amount of teasing...maybe they mean it as character building but imagine having a name like one of those?

Para volar, es preciso tener resistencia. -M.Lin

Tinto (Moderator) says on Sep 11, 2007, 13:02:

By themselves these aren't so bad, but once upon a time I was working on a project that included two women from I/T and one sales rep with the names Candie, Mandy and Brandi. I used to tell my co-workers I'd be gone for a couple of hours at a stripper's convention (project meeting).

msaucey says on Sep 11, 2007, 16:38:

It kind of reminds me of the Johnny Cash song... "A Boy Named Sue"....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

houstongal says on Sep 11, 2007, 18:42:

MT, it's nice to see Ima Hogg on the Snopes list. You do hear her name a lot in Houston because she has scholarships and other philanthropic efforts around town in her name.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Sep 11, 2007, 19:01:

Is that the same Hogg family that donated money for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts?

houstongal says on Sep 11, 2007, 19:02:

I believe so. They're a very well known family in Houston.

capitan_centella says on Sep 11, 2007, 21:27:

Hum crazy names here in colombia too:

Few examples:

ONEDOYAR CAMARGO (one dollar camargo)

USNABI GARCIA (US navy garcia)

YELLEY DADIPSA PEREZ
(I don´t know what it means. Very popular among the girls in my hometown)

YULDOR GUTIERREZ (A well known actor in the 80´s in colombia)

WILLIAM GUILLERMO PARRA (GUILLERMO -GUILLERMO PARRA)

WALDITRUDIS HERRERA (¿............? a costeño friend of mine)

Thank good my parents named me after my grandpa. . .

"When you open your eyes, you turn around with the world, But it can change, if you only close it, and see a dream to yourself." Me.

capitan_centella says on Sep 11, 2007, 21:29:

And it´s a kind of fashion. . i heard that the Gwenye Paltrow´s boy have a uncanny name. And Angelina Jolie´s son too.

"When you open your eyes, you turn around with the world, But it can change, if you only close it, and see a dream to yourself." Me.

houstongal says on Sep 11, 2007, 21:32:

Right...Gwyneth named her kid Apple.

Capitan...funny about the William Guillermo Parra! I've known people named:

William Williams
Robert Roberts

podborski says on Sep 12, 2007, 02:17:

I went to school with a guy named Chris Crossing, it took me a year to realize it was a funny name.

Love those colombian names capitan c, jajaja!

houstongal says on Sep 12, 2007, 07:02:

Chris Crossing! At least that one is a little subtle!

Man Tequila says on Sep 12, 2007, 12:11:

Did he make you jump?

I was up but I laid back down
Thinkin' I could chill 'til the time came around
And I did, but a little too long
Cause when I woke up yo the bus was gone...

pues se me antoja que sus cantares son de una tierra desconocida, y yo le dije si a usted le inspira, saber la tierra de donde soy... con mucho gusto y a mucho honor...

LA_MONA says on Sep 13, 2007, 00:03:

Jajaja Man T that brought back school memories of some girls that did a dance to that!

Para volar, es preciso tener resistencia. -M.Lin