Beyonce and Jay-Z have recently announced the name of their twins, Sir Carter and Rumi. Whilst not the most common names, they are far from being contenders for the most unusual names celebrities have chosen for their children in recent years. This most recent announcement makes me wonder though, what is in a name?
Looking at a 2016 Family Law case regarding the names given to a pair of twins by a mother in the UK (Re C [Children]); a local authority brought proceedings against a mother to prohibit her from naming her children "Cyanide" and "Preacher". The mother appealed and the Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the court had power to prevent a parent from registering a child's forename of his or her own choice. The first Judge that considered the matter declared the court should prohibit the mother from exercising her parental responsibility and registering the forenames Cyanide and Preacher.
When the Court of Appeal considered the case it was also satisfied that the court had such power to prevent a parent giving their child a specific name but this power should only be exercised in the most extreme cases and only with the sanction of a High Court Judge.
In this case, the name Cyanide gave the court reasonable cause to believe that the little girl was likely to suffer significant or emotional harm. The Judge considered that the consequences of the mother's decision was so profound that the court should intervene and protect the girl twin from the emotional harm that it was satisfied she would suffer if called Cyanide. The court did not consider that being called Preacher would in itself be likely to cause the boy significant harm. However, was concerned about possible harm to the girl twin who would inevitably discover that her birth mother decided to call her Cyanide after a notorious poison, whilst her twin brother was given the name of a respected member of society, Preacher.
It would appear, therefore, that the court are concerned if a parent wishes to call their child a name if it is satisfied that the effect of this could cause significant emotional harm to that child.
Holmes & Hills Solicitors have a team of experienced family law lawyers who deal with a wide range of private Children Act proceedings. If you need advice relating to parental rights or children, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01376 320456 (Essex) or 01787 275275 (Suffolk). Holmes & Hills has five offices across Essex and Suffolk, located in Braintree, Halstead, Sudbury, Tiptree and Coggeshall and therefore are conveniently located to service clients across north Essex and south Suffolk.
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