A judge in Tennessee has changed a seven-month-old boy’s name to Martin from Messiah, saying the religious name was earned by one person and “that one person is Jesus Christ”, reports the Guardian.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Child support magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the change last week, when the boy’s parents were in court because they could not agree on the child’s last name. When the judge heard the boy’s first name, she ordered it to be changed. It was the first time she had ordered a first-name change, saying Messiah could cause problems if the child grew up in Cocke County, which has a large Christian population. Eventually, they also agreed on the last name: the baby was to be named Martin DeShawn McCullough, which includes both parents’ surnames.
The boy’s mother said she would appeal against the ruling. She said Messiah was a unique name and she liked how it sounded alongside with her two other children names – Micah and Mason.
Messiah was the fourth fastest-rising baby name in 2012, according to the social security administration’s annual list of popular baby names.