I was one of those mothers who were looking for a special name for their baby. I recognize it. And I found it: with a lot of meaning for his father and for me and the strength we wanted our daughter to have. And yes, it is true, I think Kenya has an incredible personality partly thanks to what it is called (and many other things, of course).
So when I got pregnant with his brother, again the same fight: we had to call him in a unique way, because he is as important as his sister.
And finding the perfect name for our baby is an important issue (for most parents) and takes time during pregnancy. In Spain, the Registry allows almost all names, "provided that the person is not objectively harmed and their identification is not confused". Parents start inventing names and even there are professionals who help in the task of finding that unique name for the baby.
'Almost' all names are valid
Spend hours deciding the name for your baby and then reject it in the Civil Registry? It happens and more often than we think. Because, although the rules seem simple, the fights pending in the civil registries come to the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries.
Among those 'curious' names, that of 'Lobo', as parents in Madrid insisted on calling their son and fought until they succeeded.
But also 'Honey' (because it is still a nickname), 'Rain of April' (because April may be a surname), 'Iune' (because the Basque Language Academy recognizes June, not Iune) ... are names that have not been admitted to the Civil Registry of different provinces.
In Babies and more, are you looking for a name for your baby? 101 boy names to inspire youAccording to the Ministry of Justice, today almost all names are possible, provided that the person is not objectively harmed and their identification is not confused: a surname turned into a name or, for example, a name that misleads about sex.
This is the case, for example, of Ari, which according to the Mataró Registry is not acceptable because it can be the diminutive of Ariel or Ariadne.
No more than two simple or compound names can be imposed and the name of another living brother cannot be attributed to a brother.
There is also a lack of parents who regret the time of their choice, or the adult who fights to change the name given by their parents.
But the Ministry of Justice maintains that to change a name you need a "just cause": when it is demonstrated that a name other than the one in the Register is usually used to translate a foreign name or adapt it to the official languages of the country.
Transsexuality is also a valid reason to change the name of a child in the Registry, without having to wait until he is of legal age. Easier since it was approved just over a month ago, the possibility that "Transgender minors who have sufficient maturity" They can also change sex in the Registry.
In Babies and more Transgender children and adolescents may change their sex in the Civil Registry, if they have "sufficient maturity"My search for "unique" names
As explained to Babies and More Raúl and Sergio Ituero, the creators of Aván & Era (a company 'search engine for new names'), "the parents' requests are the most varied: *" that sounds tender "," that has strength "," that has personality "or" that has a beautiful meaning ".*
In my case I identify with two of them: That has a special meaning for the family and that has strength. I know it's just an example (and maybe not even good) but if you're going to be a mother and you doubt where to start looking, maybe my experience can help you. At least, I would have liked in my day someone to guide me where to start.
I am a tireless traveler and there are countries, places, names that leave a special mark on you. And it was around that we began to consider possible names for our son on the same day that the pregnancy test was positive.
In Babies and more, are you looking for a name for your baby? 101 girl names to inspire youAs an Asturian, I was seduced (seduced by her father and me) the idea of a name that reminded our daughter of her origins, but all those who attracted us for a girl (Xana, Xandra ...) included the 'letter X' and grandparents and even other children had difficulty pronouncing it. So goodbye to the idea, because we did not want (like all parents) that our daughter was the subject of jokes or mistakes.
On the other hand, our last trip had been to Kenya and we fell in love with the savanna, so we went around: Africa, Kenya, Savannah ... And won the name of the country, as it is written in origin, with 'and'. We had to endure the jokes and rejection of the family calling us crazy and even bad parents because we were going to mark our daughter with an absurd name forever.
But we are guided by the heart and today my daughter is a brave, successful and happy young woman who proudly bears a name she has always defended and corrected, when they intend to write the country in Spanish: "My name is Kenya, like the country". You may like it more or less but it never happens indifferently.
As for my second son, the search was even more intense, because we wanted it to be as special as his sister's. So we started investigating Quechua and indigenous names, because our last destination had been the Amazon, in Peru, and we were hooked by the people, the jungle ... But the names, with wonderful meanings, were impossible to pronounce and we feared our son's total bullying .
So as the child would be born in Madrid, we resume the possibility of looking at my origins and, eliminating the options with 'X' again (Xavier, Xandro, Xenaro ...), We arrived in Yago, Santiago in Asturian. And, again, it seems that we have succeeded, although it is not such a unique name. As soon as someone asks him if he is Galician, by name, he is immediately responsible for clarifying: "My name is Yago no Iago, which is how it is written in Galician" And so happy Because yes, he is a happy child, with a short name, which reminds him that his mother's family is of the baby.
Professionals "invent" a name for your baby
The risk we run when creating a new name is that the Civil Registry does not admit it, because it is not written anywhere or used.
But for brothers Sergio and Raúl, the creative minds of Aván & Era, this is not a problem. They have already invented names for parents without having been rejected.
Raúl tells us that they are publicists by profession, specialists in 'verbal identity'. In 2012 they created the Damenáme brand, where they have created names for the most diverse companies, such as 'Berídico' or 'Quesito Films' and three years later they came up with "Use this knowledge when naming for the benefit of parents who are about to have a baby and are involved in cocoa, which is, to name it."
Nine months later, Eire was born, the first girl in Europe whose name was proposed by a company. They say they did it and, they continue doing it for free through their Facebook page.
"Quickly we began to receive requests that influenced the originality of the name, and that was where Aván & Era emerged."
Thus a unique name is achieved
Raúl explains that:
First they have an interview with parents, whether personal, by Skype or phone, in the last case. They are asked about their preferences: favorite languages, if they want it to be long or short, composed, taboo letters, initials ... They ensure that "Many specifications arise, as it is a tailored suit."
When they have all that information they use creativity techniques such as brainstorming, mind maps, random words and others invented by them. They also do pure historical research and "they consult hundreds of dictionaries".
In Babies and more Nine frequent mistakes you won't want to make when choosing your baby's name Upon arriving at a list of about one hundred names that we like, we see which ones best mesh with the parents' last names and finally we verify that there is no such name in the National Statistics Institute.
They are usually new names, but have they ever rescued names "They were buried under a pile of years."
And how "almost all names are possible, provided that the person is not objectively harmed", they study that 'almost' in particular and that depends on the subjectivity of the official. They do a previous job to make sure there will be no enrollment problems.
A concrete example unique in the world
The directors of Aván & Era say that "What interests us most is the privacy of the minors and that is why we sign a confidentiality agreement with the parents in which we commit ourselves to never reveal the names presented".
So when we ask them to develop a particular case, they draw an invented example:
"Imagine that two future dads of a girl contact us: Inma Vega and Francisco Arroyo. Inma is Asturian and Francisco de Madrid. They would like the name to have a little of each other's land and that the last name Vega go First, he is about to lose himself in his family.
In Babies and more, what name do we give it? 15 keys to choose the perfect name for your babyThe first thing we detect is that Vega means “low ground on the banks of a river” and Arroyo is a “small river”. That coincidence, that water is present in its two last names, invites us to investigate there. We search if there is something in Madrid that refers us to 'water', and we find it. We discovered that it is in the etymology of the city itself: Madrid in Arabic was said Mayrit, which means "channel". Even archaeologists found a beautiful motto on the city walls: "I went on built water, my walls of fire are".
On the other hand, we look in Asturian mythology and discover that there is a goddess of water and femininity called Deva. We begin to make combinations with Mayrit and Deva and, among many, we choose Devay ".
They explain that the last thing they do is look at the INE (National Statistics Institute). And after verifying that there is no one named like that, they present it to their clients along with two other options.
Maybe they should be careful because someone might steal them "lovingly" the name that serves as an example and have to find another. How about?
Photos | iStock
