Swedish couple denied right to name their son Q

Parents of a boy in Jämtland in northwestern Sweden have been told they cannot name their son Q, following a ruling by the administrative court of appeal (Kammarrätten).

Published: 22 January 2009 07:23 CET

The boy’s name had already been given the thumbs down by the county administrative court (Länsrätten), despite the fact that his parents had been calling him Q since he was born, reports the Länstidningen newspaper.

The lower court had ruled that the name failed to satisfy basic linguistic requirements.

In their appeal, the parents argued that their son had been called Q since he was born.

Moreover, he responds to the name, they explained, and irrespective of what is written in official records, everyone knows their son as Q.

Thus, they argued, Q should not be considered a problematic name for their son.

But the appeals court didn’t buy the parents’ argument, finding that Q is a letter of the alphabet which is not typically used as a first name.

The court also referenced relevant case law which holds that letters are not considered appropriate for names if the letters aren’t already considered a name.