Game of Thrones name sparks passport mix-up for family
Game of Thrones name sparks passport mix-up for family
The family are still hoping to go on their dream holiday later this year.
A woman was left "devastated" after her daughter's passport application was rejected because she was named after a Game of Thrones character.
Lucy, 39, from Swindon in Wiltshire, said the Passport Office initially refused the application for Khaleesi, six.
Officials said they were unable to issue a passport unless Warner Brothers gave permission because it owned the name's trademark. But the authority has since apologised for the error.
The idea that corporations could own your name is positively dystopian.
All the women named Madison suddenly owe royalties to the rightsholders of the 1984 mermaid-in-Manhattan comedy Splash. Also, anyone named Wendy has to pay the J. M. Barrie estate or change their name to Gwendolyn.
Now I wonder if that would require a lawsuit between the J. M. Barrie estate & the Wendy's restaurant chain.
what a timely reference that everyone will get right away
don't get me wrong- I watched Splash on HBO once a summer for half a decade- I got chu
owned the name's trademark
People really don't understand trademark despite it being in the name. It's a trade mark. It's a mark on something you trade. It only applies to commercial products. Unless Warner Brothers sells children there's no trademark violation.
Poor kid gonna grow up and watch the show where she was named after right before the final season.
First season is heavy enough isn't it? Life lessons:
- get abused by your family
- get burned
- get fucked
Well I think the lesson is that after all the hardship she still fights her way to the top. That is at least inspiring. Then the last season happened.
How to tell if your parents are morons...
This girl is going to call herself "K." by the time she's 14.
Or Sarah.
I don't know, man. It may sound stupid because we know of the show. But if you separate the show from the name, Khaleesi doesn't sound half bad.
Even its other meaning, which I think means "queen" or something (right?) is okay. The name "Reina" (literally "Queen" in Spanish) is acceptable - sort-of old-fashioned, but acceptable.
Having said that, yeah, I usually roll my eyes at parents giving kids names because of some show, movie, song or celebrity with a weird name.
My son will be named Barack, as God intended.
What I find so dumb about naming children Khaleesi is that:
a) It's not the name of a character anyway. Apparently a lot of casual fans thought Dany's actual name was Khaleesi because several other characters often addressed her by her title. So there's a good chance that either these parents are casual fans who nonetheless then misnamed their child after a character, or they are serious fans who named their child in a way that will lead other people to infer her parents were casual fans. (Nothing wrong with being a casual fan, but I'd find it a bit dumb to name my child after an IP that I was only loosely into...)
b) The child is six years old. The final episode aired only five years ago. That means they named their child before Dany's story had even concluded. George RR Martin had been dropping hints throughout the book series that Dany might or might not end up as a genocidal mad queen like her father (the TV show had laid the groundwork for this less effectively, which is in part why the abruptness of her turn was so unpopular) and I find it bizarre that a parent would name a kid after a character who might still end up as a murderous tyrant
I think about the amount of thought and research that many of my friends have conducted when naming their children (including looking up famous real and fictional people with that name, doing word associations, etc). Then these guys come along and just say 'fuck it, let's just call her after that blonde girl off TV, Khaleesi I think?'
Official explained there had been a misunderstanding and the guidance staff had originally given applies only to people changing their names.
It's still fucked
Mental how many people actually thought Khaleesi was the character’s name.
This seems fucking daft. How do you refuse a name? Unless your name is a literal blank then you should be allowed any stupid name you desire.
Here in Germany, they can decide to refuse a name for a child if it's overly krass or might make the child's life unduly difficult. While one can argue about whether they like that, at least it only happens once. If you have a name, you can get as many passports with it on there as you want.
In Malaysia same rule apply, but the only gate is from the National Registration Department, where they might reject name including joke name and stupidly long name, the other department have no such power.
At least no child have to live with the name Biggus Dickus or Incontinetia Buttocks for 18 years.
I met a guy who had no first name. He had to be entered into systems as "NFN."
There's nothing wrong with not having a name that's literally blank.
The Passport Office has admitted that it was a mistake and have sorted this out. The interesting question is how this happened. I've known a few people who work their and they aren't beyond dicking about - back in the day they might mess with famous people by sticking their photograph on upside down. I could see them doing something like this is they thought someone had a stupid name.
A Danish couple went court to be allowed to name their child Christophpher. That's not a typo.
People are stupid.
A Danish couple went court to be allowed to name their child Christophpher. That’s not a typo.
What's their surname? Hfuhruhurr?
Even a blank name can work for some; https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ is a fun read if you've never encountered it before.
I've only quickly read that. Kinda funny with reference to the Klingon Empire.
However this doesn't say anything about blank names. The closest it comes is point six.
- People’s names fit within a certain defined amount of space.
But I believe that is talking about an upper limit rather than a lower limit.
If your first and last name (or any combination of however many names you have) is literally blank then how do you expect to function in society? Let alone modern society.
You'll end up with an alias (which is essentially nickname) that someone assigns you that will become your de facto name.... and now you have a name .
This doesn't make any sense. The colour brown is a trademark of UPS, yet I've known people with the last name Brown who were able to get passports.
that's probably why they apologize for it
That is definitely why they apologized for it. Because they royally fucked up.
While completely daft on part of the passport office, I suppose this is a cautionary tale about naming your kids after popular TV characters (particularly those with unique names). Turns out it can cause you a spot of trouble
Especially if their character arc hasn't run its course yet. They might turn into a genocidal maniac that has sex with her estranged half brother or something like that.
Now I’ve never watched this programme but now I’m assuming it’s set somewhere below the Mason-Dixon Line, yes? 😉
So many good names in that show and she chooses Khaleesi (which just was the title of her, right?)
Yeah, it basically means "Queen"
Reading through the comments to this and all I kept thinking was, “Mrs Yeti Goosecreature, you’ve got a funny name, haven’t you?” “Yes, yes, it’s Simon.” Anyone else that old here ? 😀
Anyone else that old here ? 😀
Oh crumbs no, at least not first time around.