From Motocross to Tarzan, names rejected for violating the law

Civil registry officials have been charged with the delicate task of discouraging parents from going to the offices of the Central Electoral Board ( JCE ) to name their children with names that are demeaning, unworthy , or a joke in bad taste.

The Organic Law on Civil Status Acts (number 4-23) empowered them in 2023 to reject such names, thus prohibiting the licentiousness that allowed many to name newborns after vehicle brands, movie characters, countries, companies, professions, curious phrases, and many other occurrences.

But people haven't stopped trying, and in branches like Herrera's, officers recall a dozen cases in which they've had to sit down with parents to educate them about the adverse effects that being called Motocross, Tarzan, or Cheetah would have on their children.

"When a father is told that he can't name his child that way, communication with the civil registry officer is very important, because you're touching on an emotional and sentimental aspect. So, you try to make him aware of the legal framework," explains officer Marcela Gómez.

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The contradiction is usually resolved with the assistant conducting the search, but the officer personally handles cases where they encounter resistance .

When they are faced with a refusal to register what they had planned, the parents, almost always men, are disconcerted and either call the mother who wrote the name on a piece of paper or leave to reconsider the matter.

In the same Civil Registry Office of the fifteenth District, newborns with names such as Ultimito, Vida, Sol, Isis, Anual, Única, Madre, Príncipe, San, Onomastico, El Niñito, Kawasaky and Tim have also been prevented from being declared.

The cultural mix of foreigners who procreate in Dominican territory also generates conflicts when they want to use names that have a negative meaning here.

Diminutives

Bienvenida Gómez Echavarría , civil registry officer for the second district in the Don Bosco sector of the National District, explains that the most common situation in her area has to do with diminutives.

"Mostly, what I've seen are cases of diminutives , like Ramoncito or Carlitos, but not names that could be discriminatory," he notes.

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Gómez points out that this trend is more common among people who declare their birth late and are going to register under the name they've been known by their entire lives.

He believes the possibility of making a change is also open for people who were issued ID cards in the past without a birth certificate and have an incorrect name.

Aside from that, the problem of strange names is not common in JCE offices located in middle- and upper-class neighborhoods.

At the Civil Registry Office of the first district of the National District, in Gascue, officer Marlene Segura Alcántara says she doesn't often encounter these types of situations, although she has had to mediate between parents who can't agree on what they will name their offspring.

In that area they tend to use more exotic and shorter names, marked by external influences .

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"Now we have more Lían, Sebastián, Sofi. María doesn't come as much, nor do Ramón and Pedro. It's been modernized with these Turkish soap operas, I say (smiles). Sometimes, I realize they come with Laia, Celine, and they tell me there's a Turkish soap opera," he comments.

The Law

Law 4-23 establishes in general terms and without further details that "the names given to a person may not violate their dignity nor objectively harm or create confusion regarding the identification of the person's sex."

Nor does he who has one of his brothers, unless he has died.

The rule grants the civil status officer the authority to decide on admission and indicates a single recourse if an agreement cannot be reached.

"In the event of conflicts arising regarding names, the civil status officer is empowered to inform the National Civil Registry Directorate of the matter to resolve and settle the conflict," states Article 74.

The three JCE officials interviewed have not yet encountered a situation requiring such escalation.

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