Couple rewarded for naming newborn after Elder Scrolls Skyrim hero

Earlier this year, Bethesda made a tongue-in-cheek proposal to pregnant mothers: if your child is born on Nigel Tufnel Day, the same date that Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released, then name your nipper 'Dovakhiin' after the RPG's protagonist and you'll win free games for life. American couple Megan and Eric Kellermeyer did …

[Anonymous Coward]

And they should be forbidden from having any more children.

I feel sorry for the child.

[jake]

I concur with AudiGuy.

Poor kid has idiots for parental units.

[Arctic fox]

When I was a kid in the early sixties one of the most popular series on TV.......

..............concerned a certain famous outlaw with a penchant for tights and hanging out in forests starring a chap called Richard Greene. A playmate of mine (we were both about five years old) came from a family whose surname was "Hood". My playmate's older brother's life was a misery at school. Why, I hear you ask? Because you can guess what his parents had named him and he couldn't go anywhere in the playground at school without massed choruses "Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen, Robin Hood, Robin Hood and his band of men....." ringing in that poor beggar's ears. Some people should definitely be banned from swimming in the gene-pool!

[M7S]

"Games for life" - whose, pray?

It would seem fairer that this be for the life of the child, assuming of course that the company is around that long. After all he's the one having to live with the consequences of that parental decision.

Mind you the parents might be miffed if they're limited to age appropriate games (for him).

[LarsG]

I SUPPOSE IT IS BETTER THAN......

some, though I might name my next born Skyrim, or Bob or maybe just John or..........

There are some strange people in this world, will the baby thank them for it later on in life or put them in the crappiest old peoples home he can find for revenge?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd say that poor kid is going to get lots of crap in school.....

But he can always deal with it through a good axe to the chest of his tormentors!

For the parents, later in life there is a high-risk proposition of dramatically reduced Mothers Day and Fathers Day cards and calls!!

[JDX]

re:And they should be forbidden from having any more children.

In America. people often invent new names or have odd ones. It's not as unusual as it would be here.

[Eeep !]

Forbidden, no, made to live the kids life instead

In America they obviously think "inventing" names for people is to use something other people suggest as a marketing stunt.

And what happens if this is the most reported event for the whole of kid's life ? Think about that. Think about all those "can you spell that for me please" questions ?

This just confirms that "can is not must" as Johnny Cash described in song.

[Ragarath]

Why do people always say a child is going to get bullied. Jersey if people like you had your way everyone would be called bob, Joe, Fred or any other name that millions share.

People are more tolerant than when you old darts were on school. To me, if I did not know where then name originated, would think that the name was Russian 6or some other language I did not know.

Yes there are really stupid names like Facebook mentioned but I think this one is passable. You would probably freak about my sons name thinking it was picked at random because you are ignorant of its origins.

[Thomas 4]

The thing is

If the child was given this name in Scandinavia, he could probably get away with it without too much hassle.

In middletown America? It's just asking to get the shit kicked out you. Poor bastard - a bad name can ruin a guy's life. Trust me on this.

[Anonymous Coward]

If this child was given this name in Scandinavia

He probably couldn't get away with it in Sweden - or at least his parents couldn't. The Swedish tax authority (El Reg - passim) would probably block it. Norway has similar laws deliberately aimed at protecting the child from possible abuse because of their names.

I'm not sure about Denmark. Iceland (although not part of Scandinavia) has the strictest rules - you can only name your child from an approved list of suitably viking-sounding names.

And you can bet if you name your child after a hulking great viking hero he won't grow up to be a hulking great viking hero; he'll probably much prefer art, have asthma and be in touch with his feminine side. Which is great. But parents projecting their own fantasies on their kids - not great.

I predict either a name change in 16 years time, or a homicide (possibly in tribute to the game with a viking axe).

[veti]

As names go, it's not bad

By the time he's old enough for his peers at school to have played the game, the game itself will have been forgotten. He'll be left with a fairly cool name with an obscure etymology, which is far from the worst option.

[Jedit]

"An obscure etymology"?

'So, what does your first name mean?'

'It means "My parents were stupid, selfish and greedy".'

I have less respect for this couple than I do for that guy who named his son "Adolf Hitler". At least he named his kid after someone he respected and felt strongly about. This couple don't even have the justification of a Star Wars fan naming his daughter "Leia" - they gave their kid his name because of a game they hadn't even played when they did it.

Still, the kid probably won't have to worry about bullying. Parents like that will likely fatally neglect their infant while they play Skyrim.

[veti]

I'm guessing you don't have kids

Or you would surely have noticed that names nowadays aren't supposed to mean anything. The playgroups are full of toddlers with names like 'Tyler', 'Britney', 'Tyrone', and zillions of other names that translate to 'My parents can't spell'. It's abundantly clear that names are not chosen for meaning, but purely for how they sound.

Little Dovakhiin will fit right in.

[Anonymous Custard]

Given how Americans normally seem to call themselves...

...as soon as he gets the option he'll be known as D. Tom Kellermeyer and just be called Tom by most people?

[MJI]

Not that bad

There are much worse names.

This is just unusual.

Better than being named after a Z list celeb.

Better than a deliberately misspelt name.

[Bernard M. Orwell]

If the child will be hounded, bullied and harrassed for his name, then I don't think it's the name that's at fault.

I think it's the little turds doing the bullying.

[MongFest]

If you notice his middle name is Tom and I have been known by my middle name for my whole life, that was my parent's decision and I've stuck by it.

I've no idea what rules there were to the offer if it was even a proper competition but I would imagine that the parents will refer to him always as Tom.

[Laurie]

So...

Your middle name is "MongFest" then? Cool!

[T.a.f.T.]

Tom

Surly the worst bit here is that they have named their child with an abbreviation rather than calling him Dovahkiin Thomas Kellermeyer (or Dovahkiin Tomas Kellermeyer as your preferences go).