Advertisement

Swedish parents told they can't name baby Pilzner

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Swedish parents told they can't name baby Pilzner
File photo of a newborn baby (not the child referred to in the article). Photo: Christine Olsson/TT

A Swedish couple have been denied the right to name their baby Pilzner after Sweden's tax agency Skatteverket said the moniker was "unsuitable" for a child.

Advertisement

The boy was born in August, and his parents hoped to name him Pilzner after his father and grandfather – and the Pilsner lager.

"My father was known as Pilzner because he used to drink Pilsner," the baby’s father, Matz Pilzner Johanneson, said to SVT Halland.

"I only drink Pilsner and since I was young, I have been referred to as Pilzner."

Johanneson legally changed his first name to Matz Pilzner as an adult, and said he and his wife were "very disappointed" by Skatteverket’s decision regarding their three-month-old. They plan to appeal the ruling.

READ ALSO: These were Sweden's most popular baby names in 2016

The agency ruled that the name, like the beer itself, was not suitable for a child.

Parents are required to submit their choices for baby names to Skatteverket which is able to reject "names that can give offence or be seen to cause discomfort for the bearer".

In 2007, for example, a couple was initially banned from calling their daughter Metallica (a decision later overturned), while authorities in another part of Sweden allowed a baby boy to be called Google. Other controversial names rejected by the agency have included Q, Token and Michael Jackson.

READ ALSO: Parents refused the right to name son Allah

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also