Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Little Maria...or Metallica?
Scandinavia is viewed as one of the most liberal corners of Europe, so
Americans are often surprised to learn there are government restrictions
onwhatparentscannametheirchildren.Historically,parentsinDenmark,
Norway, Sweden, and Finland were required to choose their child's name
from a published list of acceptable monikers. Any variations had to be
approved by a government board. One intent of the rules was to prevent
commoners from using royal names and to ban names considered ridicu-
lous, inappropriate, potentially harmful to the child, or just not Scand-
inavian enough. A Norwegian mom even spent two days in jail in the '90s
for naming her son Gesher (it means “bridge” in Hebrew). But following
a recent series of court rulings, Scandinavian countries are relaxing parts
oftheirnaminglaws.DenmarkhasallowedsomeLegolas'sandGandolfs,
and in Sweden there's a little girl named Metallica and a little boy named
Q.
Estonia took a different approach: In the 1930s it encouraged its cit-
izens to change their Swedish-sounding names to the Estonian equivalent.
In the decades since World War II, the Scandinavian countries have made
themselves quite wealthy following a mixed capitalist-socialist model. In the
late 1960s, Norway discovered oil in the North Sea, instantly transforming
itself into a rich nation. Citizens across Scandinavia have come to take for
granted cradle-to-grave security—health care, education, unemployment be-
nefits, welfare, and so on—all financed with high taxes. In social policies,
Scandinavia has often led the way in liberal attitudes toward sexuality, drug
Immigration in the late 20th century brought many citizens from non-
European nations. While adding diversity, it also threatened the homogenous
fabric of a society whose roots have traditionally been white, Christian,
