Bizarre names give rise to new rules in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- A bid to limit bizarre names for children, announced by Honduran authorities, may seem like much ado about nothing.

Unless you're named Bujia (Spark Plug.) Or Llanta de Milagro (Miracle Tire.)

Both are legally registered first names that parents in this Central American nation have given children in recent years, and which Honduras' National Electoral Tribunal feels are over the top.

The tribunal, which oversees the country's public birth registry, announced Tuesday it will ask the country's legislature to forbid parents from registering children under "extravagant or offensive" names, and allow children to sue parents who gave them "gross or insulting" names.

"Without doubt, such names are a bother to the people who have to carry them through life," the tribunal said.

Particularly irksome are naming practices in Gracias a Dios -- a province of eastern Honduras whose name translates as "Thank God."

"It is common (there) for people to employ names usually used for automobile parts," the tribunal said.

A young man there named Motor Martinez could meet a young girl -- not a relative -- named Bujia Martinez.

Also banned would be names of well-known personalities. According to electoral rolls, at least one Honduran bears the first name Bill Clinton, and another Ronald Reagan.

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