What happens if you dont name your baby

Is it illegal for a person not to have a name?

A Morton, Bangkok, Thailand

• Prince seems to have got away with it for several years.

  Steven O'Sullivan, London UK

• It is illegal. A baby cannot leave the hospital without a name. The legal system can change someone's name in certain circumstances but will not remove it. Prince did have a name; it was an unpronounceable symbol. He has restored his original name now, since he did this to avoid a contractual arrangement with his music company. Presumably such contracts will now be written with an additional clause to prevent the exploitation of such a loophole.

  Daniel Morgan, Boston,US

• Maybe.

  ,

• In California, and the US in general, unlike most countries, one can be given, or legally change one's name to almost anything, provided it is not deceptive or for the purpose of fraud. I once met a man named "Anus". Regardless, one must have a name. California courts have decided that a number is not sufficient. For example "151" would not be permitted, but "One Hundred-Fifty-One" would be.

  Dave Dreaming Bear, Claremont, California USA

• Yes, but to whom do you issue the summons?

  William Barrett, London, NW10 UK

• In the UK, a baby must be registered by name at the local Registry Office within six weeks of birth: while it is legal to change your name from the one you were registered by, your proof of registration (your birth certification) will be required for at least two legal events that many people find essential: getting a passport, getting married, Interestingly, while many people, including some registry office clerks, believe a baby born in wedlock must legally bear its father's surname, this is not true. You may give the helpless infant any name you choose: Hey You, for example, if you think you can get away with it once the infant is old enough to kick you in the shins.

  Jane Carnall, Edinburgh UK

• I don't know if it's illegal, but my aunt was never given a name. On her birth certificate the space for her name was left empty. We always knew her as 'Mick'.

  Shirley Dockerill, Bahrain

• Apparently not. In the course of family history research I have searched birth indexes at the Family Records Centre in London. At the end of the list for each surname are entries for those babies not given a name - as the mother's name must be recorded these children will have a surname but no first name. There appears to be no necessity for the name to be registered at a later date.

  Clive Gordon, Ruislip

• In Norway it is. If you have not given your child a name with 90 days, the King (in effect the ministry of justice) will do so for you. Names may also be rejected, whereupon you will have to come up with a new name or have one imposed. 'Jesus' or 'Harry' are examples of rejected names. (Royalists hold on, 'Harry' is unacceptable on the grounds that it is too low class sounding).

  Mads Oyen, Dar es Salaam Tanzania

• Some answers leave unanswered what might happen if the nameless person was born outside the UK and entered it over the land border in Ireland, without producing a passport. Do you have to give your name if arrested? In practice every culture gives someone a name, so the authorities could argue that the person must have been known by some name at some time.

  Campbell McGregor, Glasgow Scotland

• One of the UN human rights statutes, I'm not sure which one, suggests that everyone has the right to have a name. Therefore if one was to decide not to name their child, they would be breaching that child's human rights. However I have heard of a society whose members have no names but are simply refered to in relation to their household.

  Robert Singh, London, UK

• Residents of Cardiff will remember a man who used to busk wearing a skirt in the town centre. He said he had 'abandoned the use of a name for I wish to be associated with a void'. However, they may also remember that he soon became known as voidy - Surely as social beings, names are indispensable?

  Ben Rolfe, Cardiff UK

• We are of the opinion that it is illegal because a person not having a name reminds you of a thing registrated with a number and not of an identity.

  Katrin & Eva-Maria, Staffelstein Germany

• A baby does not have to be registered by name within six weeks. The birth has to be registered within six weeks but you have a year to decide on a name, or to change the name you chose first. I only know this because my daughter takes ages choosing names for her children and she has five now. I also know an Australian boy who had a dash instead of a name while his parents decided on one they liked. In the end they decided that Dash rather suited him.

  Harriet Jodelka, Brixton UK

• I hate to disagree with Daniel Morgan about the laws of either Massachusetts or the USA - his post is not clear - but I think I must. By what authority would a hospital detain a baby that has, plainly, committed no crime. And where does it say in the law that a baby must be either born in or taken to a hospital in the first place?

  Quentin Langley, Woking UK

• I'm not sure if its legal or not, but I find it interesting that it seems not too many Lawyers (of the non Barrack-Room variety) read the Grauniad. In answer to Robert Singh though, surely the right to have a name also imlpies the right not to have one? I have the right to wear shoulder length hair, but that doesn't mean I have to grow it.

  John Duffy, New York USA

• "Your Name Is What You are Known By" As illegitimate, I was registered as Peter Warren, but always known when growing up as Peter Ford. At 21 I needed to produce a Birth Certificate for my Company Pension Scheme. I asked how I could change my name "No Need", I was told, "you have only to sign and swear a declaration that you are the person to whom the Birth Certificate refers" This I did, and it has stood me for the last 53 years, including passport application and marriage. Incidentally, when I joined the Army in 1943, no proof of age was required. Obviously, someone who has lived even a short time in the company of others will have been addressed by them in some way, and that will be their legal name.

  Peter Ford, Birmingham UK

• This settles it: Convention on the Rights of the Child Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49 Article 7 1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. 2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless. Article 8 1. States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference. 2. Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity.

  Mads Oyen, Kampala Uganda

• Skier Picabo Street's parent's did not give her a name when she was born, so her name was officially, "Baby Girl", until she chose Picabo at three-years-old. Apparently, it is not uncommon for such a cover-name to be applied to children in California.

  Conrad Risher, Washington, DC USA

• Interestingly, here in Quebec not only is it illegal to not have a name, but a committee exists to check the names that are given to children. This committee has the power to refuse to allow you to name the child as you chose if it deems that name inappropriate. For the committee, inappropriate consistutes a name in English that is (in it's opinion) not a real name. For example, if you're an old hippy and want to name your child "Sky" then you won't be allowed. This law is in place to protect Quebec's first language (French) from silly Anglos confusing things and having cooler names than the French. (Well, I think that's the reason - I'm not completely clear on it, actually). Hence, River Pheonix would have had to be called Jean-Pierre Pheoneix.

  Greg, Montreal Canada

• I know a bank manager who had a customer who had changed his name to 'Dave'. Just Dave! Not 'Dave with a surname'. He was informed that he could not have a bank account in the name of 'Dave' (for obvious reasons, apart from the technical one.) Dave was most upset by this failure to respect his chosen identity. Eventually, he agreed to be known (for banking purposes) as Dave Dave. It may or may not be illegal not to have a name but apparently your human rights may be denied if you don't.

  Debbie, Newcastle Uk

• I used to work for the DSS. One our customers, purely for the laugh it produced whenever he was summoned over the intercom for an interview, had changed his name by deed poll to Mr Loading-Bay-Monkey-Spanner-Wrench.

  Robert Bayley, London UK

• I believe that Teller, the US magician (of Penn and Teller fame) has no first name. His passport states "Teller, NFN" (No First Name). Even his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Teller, refer to him as "Teller".

  Hugo Mills, Southampton UK

• If you have a right to a name, then you must also have the right to be called " ". However you may end up being known as old 'man-with-no-name'. Without any moniker you'll find it impossible to interact on paper with even the least intrusive of our bureaucracy.

  stephen money, london uk

• I do know that my friend's parents were actually fined for not naming her within the 6 weeks! She's still getting over it...

  Zoe, UK

• See the movie The Man Without a Name by Aki Kaurismaki.

  none, London

• The Mid-Western part of Nigeria is full of women known as "Sweet", "Darling", "Queen" etc. because unlike some other parts where babies are named on the 8th day, tradition has it that attaching a name to the child will allow evildoers to ... er, do it evil. I'm more interested however, in this right to grow shoulder length hair. Which treaty is that then?

  Follicly challenged, Lagos Nigeria

• I believe that the Chinese used to have the custom of naming female new arrivals as simply 'Number 2 daughter etc.' On recent visits to this country I noted that a large number of young ladies in their 20s would 'westernise' thier moniker to sound more 'sophisticated', the legality of which I am not aware!

  John Hayzen-Smith, Rugby, UK

• Well I am proof that some don't have names. I am one of them. You see my name is not on my birth certificate and never has been,I'm having problems now. They say i have to pay 600.00 dollars for my name to go on my birth certificate right now i'm looking for help, i don't have that kind of money, i have kids and all?!!!!

  Donna , Brooklyn, NY, USA

• There is a brilliant song I recommend, called Cim To Je?, (Why is it?) by a modern day Slovakian group which shall remain nameless, called No Name.

  Luke Sturges, Prague, Czech Republic

• Daniel Morgan is wrong - a baby can leave hospital without a name. I know this because I am Jewish, and some observant Jews do not name their babies until several days after the birth in synagogue, long after they've left hospital. So clearly, babies can leave hospital without names - at least in this country...

  Rebecca, London UK

• There's a man in my village called Monsieur Dix-Neuf.

  Tony Drapkin, Vaux-Rouillac France

• Re. Quentin's question about why a baby must be in hospital in the first place, I don't know anything about USA naming requirements, but there are states in the USA where giving birth at home is of dubious legality, and midwives have been prosecuted for attending home births. Babies born in taxis usually end up in hospital for obvious reasons!

  Catherine, Oxford, UK

• Many years ago the brothers of a Breton friend of mine were given "unacceptable names" by their parents - these were historic Breton ones. Their births were therefore refused registration and when the time came they did not have to serve in the French Army because there was no proof of their existence.

  Erika Wilson, Newark DE, USA

• Zoe's acquaintances were not 'fined' for not naming their child as there is no requirement for giving a forename at registration (though as other correspondents have indicated, it very difficult to get passports, etc, without one) but it is certainly an offence not to register the birth of child within forty-two days of the birth.

  Dorothy Clarkson, Hebden Bridge UK

• In India, girls can be named as Anamika (Sankrit - meaning No Name). Also, certain sects in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India, have the custom of having multiple names for a person.

  Chandrashekhar, Chennai India

• To the person who said that Teller was not born wih a first name, that is not true. He was born Raymond Joseph Teller, but legally changed it to just Teller.

  Eliza, Chicago, Il USA