Francophone Canadians have the right idea.....I have four names to pick on my birth certificate....and different documents such as health card, driver's license use different names for initials ....thank goodness we're defined by numbers instead of names :lol:
Okay, that's kind of mental, and I'm not sure why, but somehow it doesn't surprise me that such could be the case in Quebec.
In any case, the reason I launched the OP was because of something that I thought was ironic about what is supposed to be the difference between the judicial system of the States versus Canada.
Specifically, I thought American judges were bound by "Civil Code", wherein, even when their common-sense knows that a particular decision might be unfair, if a lawyer can make a logical deduction from the premises of existing law, then the judge has to accept that deduction... plus it gets further bound by a requirement to follow precedents (personally I think obligation to precedents is insanely dangerous... it's a roundabout through-the-back-door way for judges to become legislators of laws that cannot be changed).
Canada is supposed to be judged by "Common Law", which means a judge evaluates a case according to the social and moral expectations of the people according to the standards of the day.
What that means is, technically, in Canada a judge is supposed to have the right to do something like overturn a kid's name and force a renaming, whereas, technically, in the US, a judge is supposed to judge strictly according to the law, regardless of common sense.
Because the judge was American, the only way I can see her getting away with it would be if there's a precedent, perhaps her state only, allowing for a judge to force a renaming, so if I was the lawyer for the appeal, the first thing I'd look for is a precedent, such that if none exists, then I'd insist the original decision be tossed out.
Not that I can't see the original judge's point: Would *you* want to live with a name where the abreviated nickname is Messy?
Something I've noticed about the States versus Canada is that in the US there's lots more people with hippy parents who got names like Harmony, Rainbow, Thunder, etc. I even met a family where the four kids were named Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter...
... I'm guessing the mother was using marijuana medically when she delivered.