You mean there's actually a law addressing this matter?
Penthe, I'm curious. Is that "not allowed" by law or just by custom?
Yes and No. Legislation is not only adressed in laws, but also in guidelines, directives, administrative fiats, and so on. Sorry, I lack the correct juridical vocabulary here. Lets just call it guidelines, but in fact it has the same effects like a law.
Those guidelines say first names must:
- be recognizable as a first name
- be clearly female or male
- be given within a month after birth
First names must not:
- damage the well-being of the child
- be a name of a location (eg city, town, whatever)
- be a last name (with exception of established names)
- be a brand name (eg Ford, Chrysler)
First names can not be given a copyright.
Problem is the lack of clear definitions: what name damages the well-being of a child? A couple of years ago there was a prominent case when parents wanted to name their child "Pumuckl". Pumuckl is the name of a popular cartoon figure. Here's a picture of him:
The parents were not allowed to name their child Pumuckl and sued against this decision. But they failed, because the court said, this name would damage the well-being of the child.
On the other side, parents sued succesful and were allowed by court to name their daughter "Wolke", what means cloud.
I didn't want to judge which system is better. For me, American names are sometimes odd. Doesn't mean odd in a bad, disliking way - just in the sense of very unusual.