We registered Maia Elicia for her National Identity Document this morning. Getting a DNI, any DNI, is a generally painful process, the process, the tramites involved is a banker to create expressions of eye rolling empathy.
So it was with joy and relief that we arrived at 8:30 at the office, found no queue, and were sitting completing our forms by 8:40, with all our paperwork in tact. A miracle.
How naive.
Having crossed the final i and dotted the final t for triumph, the administratadora looked quizzically at something amongst the mounds of paperwork and giant books on her table.
- Maia Elicia, that's her name, yes?
- Yes, we confirmed.
- One second please.
She turned around, took down one of the world's biggest books, and said, straightfaced
- Elicia, you said... Sorry, no. That's not a name.
Puzzled look, from us.
- Look. It's not in the book.
She turned the giant tome around to show us the list of EL- names.
ELEANOR
ELECTRA
ELISA
ELIHUEN (provided second name defines gender)
ESPERANZA
ESPECTACULAR
ESTRELLA
She then, bizarrely, went into paint salesperson persona:
- You can choose from anything from this range. We have something in an Electra. Or Estrella is very nice, very popular at the moment...
Whilst we sat there, non-plussed, she said, suddenly.
- Hang on. I'll go and check.
As the minutes passed, one wondered: check with who? This book is pretty frikkin enormous. I mean, if Electra makes the cut, you're not gonna find a book with Elicia in it, are you? One imagines an enormous room, a man on a throne, The Naming Man, like a baby naming Oracle. Elicia... you ask him, he breathes in the sacred smoke, a blurred vision turns clear... Yes. I can see an Elicia.
Door opened, breaking the spell.
- Hi. Yes. It is a name. She announced, with finality. Elicia. Thought so, I've got a couple of friends called that.
Done, by 8:50, but not without a fight.
In little Uruguay across the Rio de la Plata you can name your children as you please.No book of names; you are allowed to register your baby with the name you want. Even if you just created the name five minutes ago. And believe me, there are lots of strange names. Maicol is very common name; is how we say "Michael" (after Michael Jackson, of course). Lots of Yesicas and Yenifers also.
ReplyDeleteBest regards
Mau
It all depends on whether the person who served you had their cortado or fought with their partner that morning... We walked in and said we'd like to call our son Bo and they jotted it as if they'd had as many Bos as Diegos.
ReplyDeleteMaia Elicia. Such a beautiful name! How could anyone disagree with that anyway?
MM