I just gave birth to my daughter last month and her middle name is a local Swiss town. When we told friends her full name they looked shocked that we would choose a town as her middle name. Two separate friends told us that we would not be able to register that name as it is not allowed to name a child after a town here. We were told that there is a list of "approved" names here in Switzerland...you can't just name your kid anything.

I'm really curious if this is true. Two different Swiss people have told us this is true and one Swiss person laughed. Has anyone ever had a child's name rejected, or heard of this?

There's this great unfolding story from the US. Those kid's names would never fly in Europe

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle2214462/

Here is a List of Firstnames:

http://www.babycenter.ch/babyname/

You have to address the "Zivilstandesamt" to make sure the name is legit.
Village Names are usually not allowed. You can try to register the name but be sure to have an alternative ready.

I looked at the website for the Zivilstandesamt and it did state that if you name your child after a city that it cannot be a city of the opposite sex. I guess that might be the problem since the city that we chose is apparently masculine (although I had no idea until a Swiss friend told us). I think it works with our little girls name though and when we move back to the states no one will know that it is a masculine name...

Yes. There is a list of approved names. If you are both foreign though I think you don't have to comply with the list.


ETA: A city of the opposite sex!? I'm sure I didn't know that cities had sexes! LOL.

I think this takes the cake as the lamest thing I've encountered in Switzerland this year.....quite the acomplishment.

There's a reason for this all:

Someone in a tiny village named their daughter Cinderella. People are still shaking their heads today.

Another true story:
There was a man whose last name was Vogler. He hated his last name so he got it changed to Studen. Now they call him Studen Vogler.

It's funny when the Swiss tell it and it's a true story.

We were told all that with our son, and turned up at the hospital with our name book to prove that the name we had picked was a genuine name. Turned out to be completely unnecessary, they didn't even ask whether it was a real name in our country or not. And our daughter's name is phonetically exactly the same as one of the local towns here (gender unknown... ) but we had no complaints about that either.

Maybe it depends on the Canton?

Just to pose a question. Wouldn't it be easier to give her another name that would save you all the hassle? Or are you pretty dead set on the one you have have?
The reason I ask is because the laws here can be pretty strict and not easy to get around. So would it be worth it to try?

I hope there aren't any similar rules for naming pets. I'm working on obtaining a kitten, and it's been said that I am borderline clinically insane when it comes to naming pets.

You called your kid Wankdorf?

Shoulda gone for the femine: Cunter.

Would Arthur Winter be a bit too close to the bone?

It does seem true that there are approved lists to protect children from parents who give them names likely to result in bullying, etc. Recently btw a kid was taken away from the parents as they called him Adolph Hitler (oops only seen somebody has already posted a link). I'd be really interested to know which town name you used so I can see (being a native speaker) if there is something in the name which might lead to jokes, etc.

Will look into this and get back to you. You may have to use the name given as second name and have another 'official' one in front?

Can't find any approved Government list, but there is a list on

www.mots-croises.ch

look at 'prénoms'.

To be sure, I would just go to the Commune and ask.

There are no restrictions at all. One of my cat's name was "T (J.D.) 2".

We should be good auslanders and call our kids Urs or Beat or Heidi or Gretli

Hans-Ruedi is a particular favorit of mine

...whilst the Swiss and Germans call their kids Jennifer and Kevin.

Pronounced Geniiifair, lol.

I actually knew a swiss Kevin back in the 80s.

Pronounced

'ccheviin