Russia passes law banning 'outlandish' baby names

Russia's State Duma has passed a bill, which bans parents from officially giving their babies names that are foul words, numbers, titles or abbreviations.

The law will ban figures, abbreviations, numerals, symbols and characters, which are not letters (except a dash), obscene words and titles or positions as baby names, Pavel Krasheninnikov, the head of Duma committee for state construction and legislation, told TASS.

The law, however, grants parents an opportunity to give their baby a dual surname at birth.

"Until now, a 'double-barrelled' surname could be allowed after marriage, when a couple can unite two surnames in one. The law will grant parents a right to give a dual surname at birth, uniting the surnames of mother and father," he said, noting just a hyphenated dual surname are allowed.

Previous legislation failed to oblige Russians to give their offspring names, which do not violate the children's interests or rights.

"We know about such weird names as Air Traffic Controller, Lancelot, Lexus, Lettuce, or BOChrVF260602 (which translates to 'biological human object of the Voronin-Frolov family born on June 26, 2002'), Prince, Tsar," he said. "Most children with those names are subject to bullying at kindergartens and schools and usually feel outlaws. The names cannot be changed by children before the age of 14."

The law envisions children's right to normal life, to harmonic development, to respect for their individuality and human dignity, the lawmaker said.

"As we know, your rights end where my rights begin," he said in conclusion.

BOChrVF260602, who is already 14, still has no ID papers since the Moscow registration office refused to register such an outlandish name, and subsequently a court upheld this ban.