Dear Vice,
I've always been a Metallica fan. I've seen them live, I saw that documentary and I really like the music. My wife thought that Metallica would be a cute name for our baby girl. We wanted her name to have as many letters from our own names in it as possible, and Metallica was as close as we got. At first we said to each other, "You can't call a kid Metallica!" but we checked it out with the tax authorities and they said the name was OK. So we went for it and sent in the papers…WHAT THE PARENTS SAID:
It took ages before we got an answer. In fact, it took so long that my wife finally called them up to see what was happening. It turned out that the woman at the tax authorities in Gothenburg hadn't even looked at our application. When she did, prompted by our phone call, she immediately disapproved it. She said she thought that Metallica sounded too much like the word "metal" and that the name didn't have an entirely positive ring to it. We were choked. I was so pissed that I wanted to call them right back to tell them off, but that usually never helps so I didn't. Either way, we were really disappointed. The really bizarre part of it all was that this woman called us back about an hour later to say, "Did you know that Metallica is the name of a heavy metal group? I realised that when I looked it up just now."We decided to file an appeal against the tax authority's decision. They rejected it so we called the Gothenburg county court, and eventually they ruled in our favour. We were thrilled! Almost everyone we'd met had thought Metallica was such a cool and different name so it felt good that we finally got it approved properly. She would always have been Metallica to us, but without the approval she wouldn't have been able to use her name on passports and ID. Four weeks ago little Metallica was baptised. Her full name is Metallica Elody Julia.Only three days after the baptising ceremony we got a phone call from a newspaper in Gothenburg. The reporter on the other end asked us how we felt now that the tax authorities had filed an appeal against the county courts decision. We didn't know what to think! The tax authorities hadn't told us they were going to appeal, and now Metallica was baptised and everything.But suddenly the authorities just dropped their appeal. Apparently the Gothenburg tax office had been totally showered with telephone calls from angry people. I guess it just spoke to all the people who were tired of the authorities always over focusing on things that aren't really big issues, like names for example. After all, there are stranger names than Metallica out there.MICHAEL AND KAROLINA TOMAROWHAT THE TAX OFFICE SAID:
This whole thing was a bit unfortunate. The tax authorities in Gothenburg got an application for the name Metallica and decided to turn it down. They did what they did because it was the name of a heavy metal group, and it sounded too much like the word "metal." Everything escalated and finally ended up with an appeal from the Gothenburg tax authorities. When this reached us at the tax office in Stockholm we decided to look into it.A name is judged from three points of view—the name can't be a common surname, it shouldn't be a name that can bring negative consequences in its bearer's future and it can't be a boy's name if you're naming a girl and vice versa. Based upon these three points, we here in Stockholm couldn't see why Metallica shouldn't be approved as a name. So therefore we decided to withdraw the appeal that the Gothenburg office had made.I guess we are less strict here but I also think that the Gothenburg office did what they did to get some legal prejudice in the case, to officially confirm if the name should be approved or not. The whole story got a lot of attention from the press and I think that a lot of the attention was brought on because of how easy it is to relate to this issue. Names are something most people understand and therefore it becomes a matter to everybody when something like this happens. Now the problem is solved and I'm glad little Metallica got to keep her name. After all, there are so many parents who have difficulties just choosing a name in the first place.
I've always been a Metallica fan. I've seen them live, I saw that documentary and I really like the music. My wife thought that Metallica would be a cute name for our baby girl. We wanted her name to have as many letters from our own names in it as possible, and Metallica was as close as we got. At first we said to each other, "You can't call a kid Metallica!" but we checked it out with the tax authorities and they said the name was OK. So we went for it and sent in the papers…
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It took ages before we got an answer. In fact, it took so long that my wife finally called them up to see what was happening. It turned out that the woman at the tax authorities in Gothenburg hadn't even looked at our application. When she did, prompted by our phone call, she immediately disapproved it. She said she thought that Metallica sounded too much like the word "metal" and that the name didn't have an entirely positive ring to it. We were choked. I was so pissed that I wanted to call them right back to tell them off, but that usually never helps so I didn't. Either way, we were really disappointed. The really bizarre part of it all was that this woman called us back about an hour later to say, "Did you know that Metallica is the name of a heavy metal group? I realised that when I looked it up just now."We decided to file an appeal against the tax authority's decision. They rejected it so we called the Gothenburg county court, and eventually they ruled in our favour. We were thrilled! Almost everyone we'd met had thought Metallica was such a cool and different name so it felt good that we finally got it approved properly. She would always have been Metallica to us, but without the approval she wouldn't have been able to use her name on passports and ID. Four weeks ago little Metallica was baptised. Her full name is Metallica Elody Julia.Only three days after the baptising ceremony we got a phone call from a newspaper in Gothenburg. The reporter on the other end asked us how we felt now that the tax authorities had filed an appeal against the county courts decision. We didn't know what to think! The tax authorities hadn't told us they were going to appeal, and now Metallica was baptised and everything.
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This whole thing was a bit unfortunate. The tax authorities in Gothenburg got an application for the name Metallica and decided to turn it down. They did what they did because it was the name of a heavy metal group, and it sounded too much like the word "metal." Everything escalated and finally ended up with an appeal from the Gothenburg tax authorities. When this reached us at the tax office in Stockholm we decided to look into it.A name is judged from three points of view—the name can't be a common surname, it shouldn't be a name that can bring negative consequences in its bearer's future and it can't be a boy's name if you're naming a girl and vice versa. Based upon these three points, we here in Stockholm couldn't see why Metallica shouldn't be approved as a name. So therefore we decided to withdraw the appeal that the Gothenburg office had made.I guess we are less strict here but I also think that the Gothenburg office did what they did to get some legal prejudice in the case, to officially confirm if the name should be approved or not. The whole story got a lot of attention from the press and I think that a lot of the attention was brought on because of how easy it is to relate to this issue. Names are something most people understand and therefore it becomes a matter to everybody when something like this happens. Now the problem is solved and I'm glad little Metallica got to keep her name. After all, there are so many parents who have difficulties just choosing a name in the first place.