We recently covered a story about a little girl who was turned away from a visit with Santa Clause at the mall because of her service animal, a pit bull. During this coverage, I noticed something unusual about the little girl's first name but I didn't think much of it at first.
Her name? Abcde Santos. That's right. A-B-C-D-E.
Apparently, this name is pronounced “AB-si-dee,” and it's a LOT more common than you might think.
Vocativ recently reported on the phenomenon. "According to the Social Security Administration database, 328 babies, all girls, have been named Abcde in the United States." In 2009, 32 babies were given the alphabetical moniker, and today, the median age of Abcdes is 7.5.
The first question I asked myself about this name is "HOW WAS THIS EVEN LEGAL?!" In the United States, it's legal to name your kid just about anything. I only found one case that Time reported on in which a judge ordered parents to rename their child, and that baby's name was MESSIAH.
The judge ordered the parents of little Messiah to rename him Martin. This isn't the first time government has tried to influence something as personal as naming your child. Other countries have taken to banning certain names, which some would call unconstitutional.
