Swedish parents emerge victorious in bid to name son 'Q'

Published: 30 Sep 09 14:56 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/22390/20090930/

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Overturning two previous rulings by lower courts, the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court has awarded two parents from central Sweden the right to name their son Q.

Parents of a Jämtland boy learned on Wednesday that they may now legally name their son Q, following a ruling by the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court (Regeringsrätten).

The couple had already been twice overruled in their battle to retain the quizzical first name, first by the county administrative court (Länsrätten) and later, by the administrative court of appeal (Kammarrätten).

The higher court grounded its decision in the fact that “it has not been proven that the name Q may cause offence, or that it may lead to discomfort for the bearer of the name [...] there is also no reason why Q is obviously inappropriate as a first name.”

Q's father, Rickard Rehnberg, expressed his relief at the Supreme Administrative Court's decision.

“This has been going on for a while now,” he told Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

When asked why the name meant so much to them, Rehnberg replied,

“He's been called Q almost since day one. He listens to the name and can actually say his own name. And if you read the law, you are allowed to be named after a letter,” he said.

“The law states that you shouldn't have the same name as a letter, but not that you can't. He is a unique child and we thought he should have a unique name – then Q popped up.”

The boy's full name is now officially Q Anbjörn Jackrapat Rehnberg, though it may be a while before the youngster is able to pronounce it.

In a similar decision, the Supreme Administrative Court also overruled objections by the Swedish tax authorities in awarding a woman from Varberg in western Sweden named Ann-Christine the right to change her legal name to A-C.

According to the court, there is nothing to suggest that the name A-C is offensive to anyone

"The choice of a first name is of such a personal nature that the individual must be given complete freedom," said the court.

The possibility that A-C could be interpreted as an abbreviation of another name doesn't mean in and of itself that it's obviously inappropriate. Nor is A-C obviously inappropriate as a first name for any other reason."

Charlotte Webb (news@thelocal.se)

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20:37 September 30, 2009 by Nemesis
The tax authorities should be chasing criminals who are evading tax, not annoying parents with there petty rules.

An idea. Each tax inspector, give them a target of 10 million krona to recover a month or be fired. That would get them to do something useful.
21:24 September 30, 2009 by Guarauno
Poor child,what a name but the parents are right,if they wanted a unique name for their son,well they got it.
22:23 September 30, 2009 by Göran Eklund
Good for him that his full name wasn't Q Kurt Rehnberg.
23:08 September 30, 2009 by 2394040
This should make James Bond fans very happy. I'm sure that, somewhere in the Hereafter, Desmond Llewellyn is smiling.
23:52 September 30, 2009 by Staffs
Other parents will be queueing up for that name.
08:47 October 1, 2009 by Elvis Gump
And so it begins. We now know the origins of the being that will grow up to torment Captain Picard 300 years from now.
11:37 October 1, 2009 by Gwrhyr
I'm so happy about this... Sweden is a free country after all!
12:54 October 1, 2009 by KamiZ
@ Elvis Grump

iswear i thought of the same thing lol
21:34 October 1, 2009 by AmericanBrewery
Waste of resources allowing a government office to even debate these things. Let people name their children whatever they want, if the child doesn't like it they can have it changed later in life. You have to wonder how much time (money) the government wastes on pety crap like this.

FREEDOM, ALWAYS A GOOD DECISION.

//AB
03:20 October 3, 2009 by delusion1982
poor kid, all he got from the alphabet is one letter. I can't think of this case as of more than just pushing the boundary.

Anyhow, for me this name pronounced will be more like a Chinese name than a unique Swedish name.
18:25 October 4, 2009 by izbz
What so poor about the kid????? At least he has a name that is easy to remember, whatever language it sound like doesn't matters as long as it is hard to forget the name. Cool name, so eat your heart out!!!
11:26 October 5, 2009 by justanotherexpat
1) the picture is of the Bond character. Why not the Star Trek character? ;)

2) agree with the decision......silly waste of taxpayers' money from a bunch of jobsworths interfering with family life when there are rapists, paedos and incestuous dads out there in families

3) if the kid grows up to be some eminent professor or some kind of brainbox, he could write an autobiography and call it.............

........ready for the awful pun?..........

"I, Q!"

I'll get me coat......
14:27 October 5, 2009 by BrittInSweden
All cool until he gets picked on at school. Some people shouldnt be allowed children if they are going to submit them to years of verbal abuse from the other kids.

Maybe the government shouldn't step in but the parents shouldn't be so stupid either.
12:32 October 6, 2009 by SGJamie
Remember Q from Start Trek???? Wonder if this kid has any omnipotent powers...
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