His story attracted the attention of many people in Europe, basically because of his name, a name that brings frightening memories of the darkest period in European history. And Europeans shook their head wondering what sort of parents would ever do that to a child, and what sort of society would allow it. I am talking about 3-year old Adolf Hitler Campbell.

Now, the recent news is that little Adolf and his younger siblings were removed by the authorities from their parents’ custody last week. Typical for such cases, the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services would not comment or give any confirmation to protect the minors involved. The father, Health Campbell, at first denied the allegations which have been since confirmed by several news agencies. The reason for the children’s removal is not known. However, a spokeswoman from the Division said the children’s removal is not due to their names. Adolf’s siblings are called JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler.

A court hearing was scheduled on Thursday, January 15^th but was postponed and no new date has been released.

One can only speculate what kind of parents would give such Nazi-inspired names to their children. In many countries in Europe, this could not have been possible as there are clear guidelines about what names can be given to children. One of the prerequisites is that the name should not make the child a subject of ridicule and prejudice. Thus names such as Pinochio and Moonshine are known to have been declared unsuitable by registry officials in German. When a friend decided to give ethnic Filipino names, the Belgian authorities where she lived requested certifications from the Philippine embassy that the names are valid and decent.

I may be wrong but I don’t think there is a child in Europe who is called Adolf, much more Hitler. The scars of the wars have gone deep and even the younger generations are not allowed to forget. My children are half-German and we live outside Germany. I dread the day when they might get taunted about their heritage.

Heath Campbell said he chose his children’s names to honor his German heritage. I think the Germans would actually consider the act a dishonor and an insult.

Baby names are definitely a personal thing. What is classic to some is old fashioned and stuffy to others. You may think a name is beautiful and others just think it’s weird. There are definitely trends in baby names, there are some odd ducks out there who give their kids unkind names, and then celebrities take the cake for the bizarre.

Take my son’s name, for example. When he was born, we lived in another country. I named him Jacob, not personally knowing a soul with that name, but feeling like it was one of those fit-in-while-standing-out kind of names. Little did I know it was the most popular name of the year for a boy, and would be for another three years straight. We came back to the US and everywhere we looked there was a Jacob. Poor kid. He likes his name, but every class he’s in, every sports team he’s on, he contends with at least one more boy with the same name. If he had been a girl, we would have named him Grace. It was a bit of an old-lady name, somewhere far back in the top-100 names of that year, but we thought it sounded sweet.

So when I found out I was pregnant last year, and that it was a girl, we went straight back to Grace. And that’s when I discovered it was now in the top-10 names for girls. *sigh* We decided we’d be unusual and give her one of those double-names, like MaryJane or BillyJo. The result: AnnaGrace. Lo and behold, sitting in the waiting room of her pediatrician’s office, some lady told me: oh, yeah, double names are real trendy right now. *double sigh*

Of course, we could avoid all of this follow-the-trend thing by being like celebrities. Go way back and dig up MoonUnit (Frank Zappa). Reach back just a few years to Sage Moonblood (Sylvester Stallone) or the more benign Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow). Or, you could just look back a month to Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa.

Say what?

When actress Lilakoi Moon (formerly known as Lisa Bonet, a “Cosby Show” kid, Moon is currently in “Life on Mars”), and her husband, Jason Momoa of “Stargate: Atlantis,” had their second child in December, that’s what they named him. The news just broke this week on Momoa’s wesbite. His name is Hawaiian, like his daddy’s. And it breaks down to something reminiscent of a Native American descriptor. “He was born on the stormiest, rainy night, so Nakoa (warrior)…Mana(strength/spirit) Kaua (rain) po (dark)….” she wrote. “The name was always going to be Nakoa-Wolf, but Jason did the research on first [and] middle name. [The] 2nd middle name, as you know, is Jason’s.” They spared their not-quite-two year old daughter the same torture. Her name is Lola Iolani.

In many ways, it’s not as bad as, say, the Pennsylvania couple who named their son Adolf Hitler Campbell. I mean, the poor kid can’t even get a birthday cake. But his dad is right about one thing: no one else in the world will have his name! Of course, when we were kids, we all chuckled about someone named Ophelia Butts or Ima Hogg.

Well, to each his own. I suppose we all have the right to change our names if we don’t like what our parents picked, right? And I think if I ever have another baby again, I will not tell people what I’m planning to the child until the day he or she is born.