Not so long ago, it was unthinkable to baptize your daughter Mégane or your son Mathis. More than a question of fashion, it was above all a legislative imperative which restricted the choice of the first name to certain calendars and characters from Antiquity.
With the evolution of mores, the state relaxed this legislation in 1966, before completely slackening the bridle to families in 1993.
Almost total freedom
Exit the list of authorized first names, place the principle of free choice of parents. From then on, couples can opt for a foreign-sounding first name or draw from the retro register, like Adèle, Hortense, Jules or Victor, or even medieval like Aliénor, Pétronille, Clovis or Robin.
Faced with an infinite choice, parents compete in originality to make their brats stand out from the crowd by not hesitating to draw inspiration from literary, musical, cinematographic, artistic references or by simply appealing to their imagination. We thus see the appearance of Légolas, Aragorn, Alpacino, Valentyn, Tarzan and Mowgli.
The interest of the child
However, the law places limits on families. The child's first name cannot be identical to the surname of one of his parents or that of another person, the use of which would constitute usurpation. But, more importantly, it should not harm the interest of the toddler. Although he has the obligation to enter the announced baptismal name, the registrar must therefore, in case of doubt, notify the public prosecutor, who may refer the matter to the family judge, even to have the first name deleted from the registers.
In September 2014, the justice system, for example, denied a couple the right to call their child "Nutella". In the pantheon of the most unwelcome rejected ideas, we can also cite Mini-Cooper, Asterix, Folavril or even Lucifer. But at the same time, the first names Fraise and Fleur were refused by the judges when we no longer count the Cherries, Plums, Iris or Marguerite…
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