The Name Game

David Laurin Raphael Julian doesn't cut it for a Munich mom. Something seems to be missing. Her husband strongly disagrees, believing the four first names perfectly sum up their 14-month-old bundle of joy.

No fifth name is necessary, the boy's father told a judge in the southern city of Munich.

"My wife would like to add one more biblical name. But I find David Laurin Raphael Julian biblical enough," the father said.

Munich city authorities began getting impatient after the boy's one year birthday. They slapped the parents with a monthly 50 euro (75 dollar) fine to try and speed the naming process along.

But the parents are refusing to be pressured. The mother is a lawyer and the father a judicial civil servant, so they naturally took the case to court, arguing that the fine was intended to compel parents who had already agreed on a name to register it with the proper authorities. But they weren't to that point yet.

The judge, who appeared to have a hard time keeping a straight face at the couple's predicament, agreed to withhold the fine, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

The father expressed optimism he and his wife would reach agreement before their son attended kindergarten, but would not commit himself to a precise date.

"I'm not a prophet," he said.

Hopefully the fifth name they're fighting over isn't "Divorce."