Parental tax agency prevents registration of child as Vladimir Putin in Sweden

A couple tried to register their son as Vladimir Putin, the same name as the President of Russia, but the Swedish National Tax Administration refused the request for Scottverket. To define a child’s identity, parents must now enter a new request. All newborns must have their names approved by the tax authority in the first three months of their lives.

“The Local” news portal, citing information obtained by the country’s public radio station “SR”, released in the second week of September. Under Swedish law, proper names must not cause the individual discomfort or other problems or may not match family names or be inappropriate “for some obvious reason”. This also applies to adults who want to change their identity. The already rejected names were Allah, Q, Ford and Pilsner, but some bright ones like Metallica and Google were recognized.

In the relevant case, it is not explained which rule is not complied with.

Swedish population data shows that there are about 1,400 people by the name of Vladimir, but it is believed that there are no records so far with “Putin” because the statistics service does not show specific information below two citizens, for privacy reasons.