I also knew somebody whose first name was Vilen, apparently a quite common name.

His surname is Portugese, however, so in my mind, I imagine he is from South America somewhere, presumably with left-wing parents.

As for Soviet names generally, I hear that names like Stalin and Lenin are very popular in parts of India. There’s even a town in Kerala called Moscow. This BBC article reports on a reunion of six Lenins, two Gagarins and a pair of Pushkins.

Let’s hear more about this guy!

A common joke here goes …

A girl applies for a job. She is asked about her first name …. She replies “Wazhsodasein”.

The interviewer askes if were of Middle Eastern origin.

No, she replies, the name is an abbreviation of my father’s first words when mother brought me home from hospital after birth.

Was zur hölle soll das sein ?

(The phrase translates to :What the f*** is this supposed to be ?)

There is a so-called “Namensregister” (register of names) which lists all the names which will be accepted without any discussion. Should you come up with a name not in the register, then it’s up to the official to decide whether this name is a name or not (or up to you convincing him). But it clearly has to be a name, no attribute or condition. And it has to have some seriousness to it.

People tried to name their kids “Afrika” or “Asia” and couldn’t. “Europa” (Europe) passed as it is a ancient Greek name.

Popeye won’t pass. But there is always an exception to the rule. If you manage to convince the official to note it down, and the name ends in the birth certificate, then the “name” is a name.

Then even “Coca and Cola” or “Cosima Proxima” will pass for being names.

db, I made that connection about Alfyorov – fascinating.

And Heribert, is it true that there is control over what you can name your kid in Germany?! People would freak out about that in the US. It sort of reminds me of when I was being baptized into the Orthodox church, the priest first wondered if I wouldn’t take a proper Orthodox name and then couldn’t figure out how to say my actual name – he probably should have just baptized me as Leonid, but it was nice of him to try.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alferov
http://science.ng.ru/safe/2000-03-22/7_jores.html

I personally know a person who had the name changed from “Goering” to “Gering”.

Untill some years ago the procedure of giving a first name to a child (in Germany) was pretty strict. You had to prove that the name you had in mind was really a “name” and not some bizarre construct. The authorities even discussed with you about the spelling of a name.

My oldest son’s name is “Domenik”, the official filling out the birth certificate insisted that the name must be spellt “Domenique” or “Dominique”. I finally convinced him that I wanted to prevent people from taking him for being a female by spelling it without “que”.

A friend of mine faced more difficulties. He insited in giving his son the name “Eike”, which is a nordic-germanic name. The officials insited that this name would be female and refused to put it into the certificate. For moths the child had no name but a number. Finally, after quite some rallying, the (then) famous German soccer player Eike Immel agreed to help and sent a copy of his birth certificate to prove that “Eike” very well is a male name. After this the officals gave in and entered the name.

As to crazy names in Germany, in Hamburg someone managed to have the officials accept the names “Coca” and “Cola” for his twin daughters. A terribly stupid decision.

The thing about “Stalin” is that it’s not an ambiguous or Soviet-kitschy name like Vilen (Vladimir Ilyich LENin), Melor (Marx-Engels-Lenin-October-Revolution, though also, apparently, a saint) or Ninel (Lenin spelled backwards); I’d think even the less mellifluous Oktyabrina or Traktor would be preferable (though I doubt there are many Traktors still living). Anyway, I would definitely be interested in hearing from the gentleman how his name has served him and about the most interesting comment(s) he’s received on it.

Mr. Michael Lenin in Hünxe

Mr.or Mrs. M. Stalin in Bergisch Gladbach

Mr.Stalin in Osnabrück

Mr. Merlin Stalin in Köln (great name, isn’t it ?)

But we also have 86 people by the name Romanov. So the Russian royalists beat the communists in Germany by 86:4.

As for the real Stalin, some might be familiar with the so-so movie about him which the History Channel runs. My favorite scene is where Stalin asks Molotov a series of questions that are answered unintelligently. After which, Stalin claps his hands and says: Molotov you’re so stupid. You will go far.

This relates to many present day situations. Included is the Eng. language coverage of the former USSR from the Russian government funded side.

Forget about interviewing all these bloggers. I say put some questions to the Stalin guy on your block.