Yesterday I blogged about 7 and 12-Gage, two Oklahoma babies with names that feature numbers.
I’ve always assumed that any U.S. parent could use a number in a baby name (even though few end up doing so). Then I spotted something in a Wisconsin newspaper that made me think twice. Here’s the quote, from the Wausau Daily Herald:
Debbie Baeseman, a nurse in Aspirus’ birth center, said that in 2010, one set of new parents wanted to include a number in the middle of their child’s name, but Wisconsin law forbids it.
Is this true? Is there a really a law in Wisconsin that says parents can’t use numbers in baby names? If you’re familiar with Wisconsin law, I’d love to hear your take on this. (I’d also love to hear from anyone who knows whether similar laws exist in other states.)
Source: Elijah, Madeline top local picks for newborns in 2010
Here’s a story from the 1970s about a man who tried to legally change his name to a number, and was not allowed to:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915817,00.html
Thanks Kelly! Looks like he was turned down in both North Dakota and Minnesota. According to this blogger, this is why the change was rejected in ND:
I wonder what the statutory definition of a name is in Wisconsin…