In theory, parents invent their children's names
So the accusation "this name is made-up" would be rather pointless there. The parents (or the paternal grandfather) make up the names. There used to be a "generation part", common for all siblings (or all siblings of the same sex) and an individula part.
Examples: Ai-ling, Chong-ling and Mei-ling for three sisters.In practise, parents have limited imagination so therefore there are many children with the same names. Also, while some names sound good for both sexes, some are definitely for girls (names with flowers for instance). I have no proof but I am certain that in Iceland it depends on a). Many Icelandic names are old names, used before Christianity was introduced. So c) does not apply. And I don't see what European has to do with, since other European countries don't have the same rules. In Sweden, for instance, immigrants keep their names, however strange they may sound to Swedish ears.
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Messages

Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  Irish  ·  5/10/2005, 5:04 AM
Re: Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  Irish  ·  5/11/2005, 12:09 AM
But it does help you limit your search :-) n/t  ·  তন্ময় ভট  ·  5/11/2005, 5:22 AM
Re: Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  Anneza  ·  5/10/2005, 11:25 PM
Talking of backwards, Lenin = Ninel  ·  Ylva  ·  5/11/2005, 7:05 AM
Thank you, very interesting n/t  ·  তন্ময় ভট  ·  5/11/2005, 5:19 AM
Nowadays most anything goes in Sweden  ·  Ylva  ·  5/10/2005, 2:39 PM
Name laws in France  ·  Lumia  ·  5/10/2005, 7:53 AM
Re: Name laws in France  ·  Irish  ·  5/10/2005, 12:13 PM
Re: Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  VestellaContessa  ·  5/10/2005, 7:04 AM
Re: Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  Irish  ·  5/10/2005, 12:12 PM
Re: Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  Silvie  ·  5/10/2005, 10:34 AM
Re: Laws and restrictions, part 2  ·  তন্ময় ভট  ·  5/10/2005, 4:27 PM
Well, Chinese is written with Chinese characters  ·  Ylva  ·  5/10/2005, 4:50 PM
Re: Well, Chinese is written with Chinese characters  ·  তন্ময় ভট  ·  5/10/2005, 5:54 PM
In theory, parents invent their children's names  ·  Ylva  ·  5/10/2005, 6:21 PM
"Made-up" versus "made-up"  ·  Miranda  ·  5/10/2005, 6:45 PM
Re: "Made-up" versus "made-up"  ·  Miss Claire  ·  5/15/2005, 1:03 PM
Re: In theory, parents invent their children's names  ·  তন্ময় ভট  ·  5/10/2005, 6:32 PM