Parents Told They Can't Name Their Baby 'J'

Swiss court says the name would cause too much confusion
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 28, 2017 6:44 PM CDT
J Is Not OK—Swiss Court Nixes Letter as Baby's Name
   (Getty Images/mucella)

J is not OK—as a name, that is, according to a Swiss court. The Zurich administrative court said in a ruling released Tuesday it had upheld a local registry office's decision to reject the letter as a given name in the best interests of the child, Switzerland's 20 Minuten news website reported. According to the AP, the court rejected the parents' argument they wanted to honor their daughter's great-grandparents Johanna and Josef with the initial as one of her middle names, saying they could have chosen the already-accepted Jo instead. Though the parents wanted to pronounce the name "Jay," the court noted the letter is pronounced "Yott" in German, creating confusion. The court also said people would be inclined to put a period after the J, though it wasn't an abbreviation. (More names stories.)

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