Should baby names be regulated by a ruling body? The State Government of Chihuahua in Mexico would say, "You bet!" This is because it has done exactly that.

According to Chihuahua's new regulations, all foreign names must be followed by a Spanish middle name, like Jos or Maria or Rosa. The spelling of the names has to fit to the norm, too. No one can name a baby by changing a letter; Cristina cannot be Christine or Christina, Elizabeth can only be written with a z, and Teresa cannot be Theresa.

Then, some names are listed as inappropriate or rather more than inappropriate, because using them is a crime against the state. Those names are totally disqualified, or to be exact, banned; among them are Brian, Karen, Shiloh, Apple, Kevin, Azul (blue), Phinneaus, Lluvia(rain), Blanket, Rumer, Tallulah.

These rules are intended to keep the children from being ridiculed later in life because of their names.

In Germany, too, it used to be, people had to register their kids' names at the Standesamt, not any name they wanted but a name used in countries familiar to the German nation.

Now, if the State of California started regulating baby names, this would be a really big problem for trend-setting celebrities in Hollywood who rummage around for unique-sounding names for their children. If that would happen, how could those children with names like Little Pixie, Speck Wildhorse, Tu Morrow, La Princia, Fifi-Trixibelle, Shalamar, Peaches Honeyblossom, Pilot Inspektor, and Buffalo Cody exist?

If I am not mistaken, naming children with such unique names started during the sixties with the flower children. At the time, we were taken aback when Sonny and Cher Bono named their daughter, but then in those days, some people adopted for themselves far-out commune names. I remember a Maggie asking her mother to call her Serenity and a Liz wanting to be Peace Lily.

It is possible that unusual names can cause discomfort for a child in the future, but a name is a name, and while some like to create extinct and unparalleled names especially for their children, parents have the right to name their children whatever they want. At the start of this naming game, parents are the ones wet with perspiration; later, it may be the children, however, who may be pained with their unusual names.

Under the alphabet of names, the choices from A to Z are incredibly versatile. The most important principle for the parents to remember is: the name of a child will make the child more comfortable in life, if it flatters him. Also, the name has to fit in well with the last name. A six year-old Patty Heine could be ridiculed as "Pat the heinie" and the same would hold true for Peggy Hogg as "Piggy Hog."

One rule of thumb is: if the last name is unusually long, the first name shouldn't be too long as in Jedediah Hollister-Dochendoner. Names with alliteration, too, can create a problem by sounding like tongue twisters as in Dorothy Daugherty, Matthew Mathison, Peter Piper, etc.

From what I have observed, unless a parent feels she has to continue a family tradition, she should try not to name her child with archaic and rarely used names. In the TV sit-coms, most people with less used or archaic names are projected as wacky or unnerving characters, like Aunt Tabitha, Uncle Nehemiah, etc.

As the government of Chihuahua has implemented, names fitting the local preferences may be all right if we know for certain that the child will stay in the same restricted environment all his life. Yet, the world is diverse and it is questionable that a child will live out his life in the same region he is born in. The earth is a globe, and with each day, its inhabitants are becoming more and more globally connected.

When parents name their babies, they should not forget that a name is a signal and their child can grow up to be more self-confident with a positive signal, which can be accepted by most people. Our children will have an easier life if they own a flattering name that can be pronounced easily and accepted by many.