Unusual in France, the name Jihad was given this summer by parents in Toulouse. The choice of his parents living in Léguevin [Haute-Garonne], west of Toulouse, raised some eyebrows.
Their baby was born on August 2, 2017, according to the municipal listings of Léguevin. Because the mother gave birth in la Ville Rose, the child was registered there. The city’s unique architecture made of pinkish terracotta bricks, earned it the nickname of the Pink City.
Contacted by the editorial office of the online site actuToulouse, the town hall confirmed having reported the strange name to the public prosecutor.
This is not the first time that this name, although unusual in France, is entered onto the French civil register. In Arabic, Jihad means “abnegation”, “effort”, “struggle”, and even “resistance”. It can either be understood as a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty, or as a personal religious struggle in devotion to Islam.
Abderrahmane Oumachar, co-founder of the Toulouse Center for Muslim Spirituality, told actuToulouse that contrary to the Miriam Webster dictionary definition, it can not be translated as “holy war”. But he admitted that many Muslims understood the term as waging war.
Article 57 of the French Civil Code is very specific on the subject of names. The first name must be chosen by the parents in “the best interests of the child”.
“Where these names or one of them, alone or associated with the other names or the name, appear to be contrary to the interest of the child or the right of third parties to have their family name protected, the officer of the family civil register should inform the public prosecutor without delay.”
The latter can appeal to the family court judge. This is a posteriori measure. “The registrar who receives a declaration of birth has no discretion on the admissibility of first names,” says Jonathan Bomstain, lawyer in Toulouse. “He has the obligation to write the names chosen by the parents on the birth certificate. If the first names reported appear to be contrary to the law, the registrar must inform the public prosecutor.”
A circular dated October 28, 2011, on the choice of first names, was written for town halls. This circular states “certain limits to the freedom of the choice of the first name”.
It states clearly: “Parents may not choose one or more first names which, alone or associated with the family name, would clearly be contrary to the best interests of the child. This could be the case, for example, subject to the assessment of jurisdictions, first names that look or sound ridiculous, pejorative or coarse, those difficult to pronounce because of their complexity or reference to a character discredited in history, or words of pure fantasy.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office can refer the matter to the Family Affairs Judge.”
According to the Toulouse lawyer, this obligation to inform the public prosecutor is in fact “at the discretion of the communes”.
If the public prosecutor, in Toulouse, considers that the first name Jihad is contrary to the law, “he can seize the family judge in the Court of First Instance to order the deletion of the name disputed on the listings of the civil register,” Bomstain explained.
If the parents for some reason fail to name the child, “the judge has the option to choose a first name,” says Jonathan Bomstain. “It does so for the sake of the child.”
“First names have been banned in recent history,” says Jonathan Bomstain. “I’m thinking of Nutella, Mini-Cooper, or Portside and Starboard for twins …”
Elsewhere, justices also had to intervene to forbid first names. In 2002, in Germany, a couple was denied the right to give the name Osama bin Laden to their son.
Parents in New Jersey, USA, could not baptize their son Adolf Hitler in 2009.
The choice of the name Jihad is also reminiscent of another controversy that dates from 2012. Born on September 11, 2009, an uproar ensued at a nursery school in Sorgues (Vaucluse), near Avignon. The child wore a t-shirt with the inscription “I am a bomb”.
