The naming game

Here is a curiosity for you. A couple in Torino want to name their daughter Andrea and the question has gone to the upper court. It seems that by Italian law, you cannot give a name to a child that gives a false impression of its sex and since Andrea is a male name in Italy, the baby girl cannot take this name and should be happy with Andreina instead. This law is in the public interest as a name constitutes a means of identification of the child's social relationships, including its sex. The lower court's decision to block this act was not deterred by the fact that Andrea is a girl's name in other countries.

My son Andrea has the opposite problem when in the States where Andrea is a girl's name. At summer camp, he just went by Andy to simplify the whole matter. People were a bit confused and he did receive mail to Miss Andrea... but everyone survived and eventually noticed that he was in fact a male.

a domani,
E