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Italy Declares Friday Is Not A Boy's Name
Italian judges have forbidden a couple from naming their son Friday, saying it would bring the child shame and ridicule to be named after the character in “Robinson Crusoe”.
“They thought that it recalled the figure of a savage, thus creating a sense of inferiority and failing to guarantee the boy the necessary decorum,” the couple’s lawyer, Paola Rossi said Wednesday.
The boy was baptized “Venerdì,” Italian for Friday even though the boy was born on a Sunday. The couple has said they wanted an unusual name and liked the name Friday. One can only assume it is their favorite day of the week.
City Hall officials in Italy are obliged by law to report odd names. As a result, the matter of the unusual name ended up before the judges in Genova, where the family lives. The judges cited not only the Daniel Defoe novel, but said the name Friday raises a sentiment of sadness and penitence when not being associated with bad luck. The judges also wrote that someone with the name Friday would be prevented from having “serene interpersonal relationships” which leaves those of us with common names to wonder why we have so few serene interpersonal relationships.
The court has ordered the boy be named Gregorio after the saint on whose day he was born.
Many of the facts you see above came from an AP article written by Alessandra Rizzo.
Posted by Jackie on December 20, 2007
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