Couple Wants To Name Baby Osama Bin Laden

[Gina Marie]

Turkish Couple Wants to Call Baby Osama Bin Laden
Thu Sep 5,10:07 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Turkish couple living in Germany who want to call their child "Osama bin Laden " have been refused permission by German officials but will lobby a judge for a change of heart.

Names are only accepted for registration in Germany if they fulfil certain criteria. A name must clearly identify the child's gender and must not ridicule the child or be offensive. "Hitler" is banned as a name for that reason.

Registrations officials in Cologne, where the young couple live, rejected the name because it would not be allowed in Turkey, a spokeswoman for the magistrates court now dealing with the case said Thursday.

"Another reason was the obvious association of the name with the terror attacks of September 11," she said.

The German rules on babies' names also say that if the parents decide on a foreign name the name must be acceptable in the family's home country.

However, registration officials do not have the power to ban the couple from using the name of the al Qaeda leader for their child and the case has been referred to a judge.

The parents, both under 30, have been asked to make a statement to the judge, the spokeswoman said.

She declined to comment on whether the couple had other children and what their names were.

 

[adamswildhoney]

WTF? Is wrong with that couple!

 

[pinkfloyd]

As i heard , before 9/11 , name " Osama " was the most popular name for newborn boys in Afganistan and other nearest countries .

 

[speedracer]

Why exactly do they want to subject their kid to a lifetime of harassment?

 

[Lilly]

i don't need to re-iterate that they're idiots, right?

that was implied, right?

 

[BAW]

As horrific as it sound to us, he is still a hero to some people. I think its disgusting too but I'm not surprised.

The latest issue of Time has an interview with a Pakistani teenager who is torn between her love of America and her loyalty to her own country and religion. She tells about a time just after 9/11 when her fellow students at the girl's school she attends were "passing around magazines with photos of Bin Laden" and "some swooned over his soulful eyes." "There were girls in my class who loved him. We all thought Osama was a champion of the downtrodden Muslims."

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

While I may not understand why they would want to name their kid after that guy...it is their kid. Let them name it whatever the hell they want. It's not your name that determines who you are, it's your personality, anyway.

Angela

 

[sharky]

I actually think the most disturbing part of the story is that the German government can tell you what you can or can not name your child. "sorry, Moon Unit Zappa is too hippie."

As for the parents, you also have to remember that Osama is a common name. In college, there was a guy in town who opened a great coffee shop that made the best Turkish coffee [so I am told]. He named the shop after himself. And guess what is was named? Osama's.

Before you start jumping to conclusions, remember that this couple is of a faith and culture different from ours in the U.S. Its not an uncommon name but at the same time, I wouldn't name a kid that anyway. There are southerns who are proud to name their white children Robert E. Lee. Not right but people do it. As long as they don't raise the kid to be intolerate and a terrorist, I don't care.