Mireille and Jean-Jacques Manrot-le Goarnic of Brittany had a dozen children in the 1950s and early 1960s. They gave all of these children Breton (Celtic) names.
The names of the first six (Garlonn, Patrig, Katell, Gwenn, Yann and Morgann) were accepted by the French government.
The names of the last six (Adraboran, Maiwenn, Gwendal, Diwezha, Sklerijenn and Brann) were not.
These last six, therefore, did not officially exist under French law, as their births were never registered. Because they were nonpersons, they could not legally drive a car, vote, marry, enlist, or claim state health benefits.
Why weren’t their names accepted?
Because a law written in the early 19th century restricted French baby names to the names of Catholic saints and “persons known in ancient history.”
According to Jean-Jacques, though, the specific reason was “racism, pure and simple.”
These children have no rights. They are nonentities. They have been refused admission to schools. They have been bullied and ridiculed. It’s terrible. All we want is a human solution and no one in any official capacity seems to be interested.
The family’s plight was widely reported.
In 1966, TIME reported that “Papa Goarnic” had been fighting to register the names for years, but had “lost every round.”
[This was the year that the 1803 law was replaced by “a statute that in theory allows the French to call their children just about anything that doesn’t offend good taste. But the law was not retroactive,” unfortunately.]
In the mid-1970s, The New York Times mentioned that le Goarnic had attempted to take his case to the International Court of Justice at the Hague, on the grounds “that France [was] violating the 1532 treaty between Duchess Anne and Francis I.”
[An edict of union was indeed signed by Brittany and Nantes in mid-1532, but Anne of Brittany had been dead nearly 20 years by that point.]
The situation even inspired poetry — some humorous, some serious. “Open Letter to the Le Goarnics” (1963) by Charles Maitland Fair ran in The New Yorker; “Maçon Murant Merveille” (1966) was penned by Breton nationalist Alain Guel.
In 1976, France finally relented and gave full rights to the six Manrot-le Goarnic children.
By this time, the oldest was 19 and the youngest was 12.
[Reminds me of the families currently fighting to use Berber names in Morocco…]
Sources:
- “6 Children Get Rights” Waycross Journal-Herald 14 Jan. 1976: P-24.
- “French refuse legal status to Celtic name.” Leader-Post [Regina, SK] 13 Jan. 1975: 23.
- Lewis, Flora. “France’s Bretons, in Quest for Nationalist Goals, Rediscover Their Heritage.” New York Times 14 Jun. 1975: 8.
- “Norman Court Names Girl Mikelaig, Ruling Out Parents’ Choice.” New York Times 4 Dec. 1966: 168.
- Union of Brittany and France – Wikipedia
- “World: Qu’y a-t-il dans un nom?” Time Magazine 7 Jan. 1966.
