The name doesn’t spoil anyone, it says.
But if you are to believe a number of new parents, they don’t quite believe it. For some, it can take a long time to come up with a name.
– We struggled tremendously. We strongly disagreed. I wanted a slightly old-fashioned name and he wanted a modern name.
That’s what Margit Sande Tvedt from Sunndalsøra says. A little over four years ago, she and her partner had a little girl.
Every single day they were asked the question: What is their child’s name? But no. They could not agree.
– I wanted to call someone in the family, but he would rather not. Then we stood there, says Margit.
Thus the couple ended up in the same squeeze as Therese Johaug and her roommate Nils Jakob Hoff. They spent four months agreeing that the daughter should be named Kristin.
Hermine Tvedt’s parents struggled for a long time to agree on her name.
Photo: Private
300 children without a name each year
According to the Names Act, everyone must have a name by the time they are six months old.
Because if you don’t have a name, the children can’t get a place in registers and systems, which is very tricky to have a place in.
For example, you don’t get into the systems that give you the right to nursery and school places, you also can’t get a passport and the banks also tend to like to link an account to a name.
In Norway, it is the Folkeregisteret that ensures that parents give their children a name.
– We have a case where we received the child’s name Mamma and papa only one Hansen. It was refused under the Names Act, says department director Roar Sellevoll in the Population Register.
According to Sellevoll, there are just under 300 children who are over six months old and who have not been given a name yet. These are figures that remain fairly stable from year to year.
But he says it is a myth that the state gives children a name if the parents cannot decide.
– The National Register does not assign names to anyone. Where that story comes from, I don’t know.
If Kari Hansen have a child and cannot decide on a name, then the child will be named Kari*Pike Hansen or Kari*Gutt Hansen in the National Register until it gets a name, explains Sellevoll.
– Registration is often forced. That the parents just have to be allowed to do it, says the department director of the National Register of Citizens.
Hear Margit Sande Tvedt tell more about the name crisis in Ukeslutt:
New naming traditions
Although it can be difficult to find the right name, there are more and more to choose from. Statistics Norway registered 3,000 new names in this country last year.
Most “new” names come from people who move to Norway from countries with completely different naming traditions than we have here.
– But then there is an awareness that it is nice to have a name that not everyone else has. Not to choose from the top names so that you avoid two others having the same name as yourself, says senior advisor Anders Sønstebø at Statistics Norway (SSB).
Because there will be a lot of Jakob, Noah, Nora and Emma at school in a few years.
– There are quite clear trends in the last 20-30 years. We choose shorter names. Preferably with one or two syllables. For girls, names end in A to a very large extent, says Sønstebø.
Agree in the end
At Sunndalsøra, the months passed without Margit and her roommate agreeing.
The name registry had sent letters three times reminding them that their girl needed to be named soon.
– We laughed a little at the fact that it took so long for us to get these letters. We saw the humor in it, she says.
After five months, they finally settled on a name.
– We had played a bit with the idea of Hermione. So we tried it out for a while. Then that was it, says Margit.
– Are you satisfied with that?
– Yes, we are very satisfied. She is a beautiful four-year-old girl with a beautiful name, we think, says a proud mother.
Excerpt from the Names Act
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§ 8. First name
As a first name, a name that is registered in the National Register as a name that is or has been in use as a surname or middle name cannot be chosen. The name can nevertheless be taken as a first name if it has an origin or tradition as a first name in Norway or abroad or has a tradition in a culture that does not distinguish between first name and surname.
§ 9. Middle name
Names that can be taken as surnames can be taken as middle names.
§ 10. General limitations
Even if the other conditions are met, a notification to take, change or delete a name shall not be accepted if the person’s personal name could otherwise be a significant disadvantage for the person concerned or other strong reasons dictate it.
§ 12. Notification of names for children
Notification to take, change or delete the name of someone who has not reached the age of 16 must be submitted by the person or persons with parental responsibility, or they must have consented to the notification. If the report concerns a child over 12 years of age, the child must also have consented.
Source: lovdata.no
Margit Sande Tvedt bathes with her daughter Hermine at Margit’s parents’ cottage. Her parents also spent some time agreeing on Margit.
Photo: Private
2023-09-13 03:41:40
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