‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts under their real names

Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by buzer on Friday August 14, 2020 @07:24AM (#24156513)

I don't think neutral names are illegal, they are just rare. Names like Kaino, Rauni and Muisto have couple of registrations per year with quite equal distribution between genders (https://verkkopalvelu.vrk.fi/nimipalvelu/).

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Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by Hamuko on Friday August 14, 2020 @07:29AM (#24156537)

Nimilaki defines that a first name can only be accepted if it's "become a standard for the same gender".

https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2017/20170946

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Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by buzer on Friday August 14, 2020 @08:01AM (#24156749)

I think that means that you wouldn't be able to give such a name in cases where it has become a standard for the other gender, meaning it would be tricky to add new neutral names. It's also quite new additition so I don't think there are any cases that have went to administrative court yet.

According to https://www.kotus.fi/kielitieto/nimisto/henkilonnimet/etu-_j... the standard for same gender is 5 people that are alive, i.e. once 5 men and 5 women have that name, it could be given to either gender. Not sure what would happen if there was a huge imbalance though (like 1000 women with the name & 10 men). At least Rauni and Kaino have been granted to both genders after the law came in effect.

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