瑞典夫妇：女儿起名“重金属” Couple fights to name baby 'Metallica'

Metallica may work as a name for a heavy metal band, but a Swedish couple is struggling to convince authorities it's also suitable for a baby girl.

Sweden's tax agency rejected Michael and Karolina Tomaro's application to name their 6-month-old daughter after the legendary rock band.

"It suits her," Karolina Tomaro, 27, said Tuesday of the name. "She's decisive and she knows what she wants."

Although little Metallica has already been baptized, the Swedish National Tax Board refused to register the name, saying it was associated with both the rock group and the word "metal" and not suitable for a girl.

In Sweden, parents must get the names of their children approved by the tax authority, which is in charge of the population registry and issues personal identification numbers, similar to Social Security numbers in the United States.

Karolina said the official handling the case also called the name "ugly."

The couple was backed by the County Administrative Court in Goteborg, which ruled on March 13 that there was no reason to block the name. It also noted that there already is a woman in Sweden with Metallica as a middle name.

The tax agency appealed to a higher court, frustrating the family's foreign travel plans.

"We've had to cancel trips and can't get anywhere because we can't get her a passport without an approved name," Karolina said.

Metallica（重金属） 一词用作重金属乐队的名字倒还可以，可瑞典一对夫妇硬是要说服当局，将这个词用作女儿的名字。

迈克尔和卡罗丽娜·托玛洛夫妇向瑞典税务局申请给他们六个月大的女儿取名为传奇摇滚乐队Metallica，但遭到了拒绝。

27岁的卡罗丽娜于本周二说：“这个名字很适合她。她很有主见，知道自己想要什么。”

虽然小Metallica已经接受了洗礼，但瑞典全国税务局拒绝注册这一姓名，称这个名字与摇滚乐队和metal（金属）一词有关，不适合女孩。

在瑞典，父母们给孩子起的名字都须经过税务局的批准，瑞典的税务局主要负责人口的注册和颁发同美国社会保障编号相类似的个人身份编号。

卡罗丽娜说，处理此事的官员还说这个名字“很难听”。

哥德堡地方行政法院对这对夫妇给予了支持，并于3月13日做出裁决：税务局没有理由拒绝注册这个名字。此外，法院指出，瑞典曾有一位女性的中间名就是Metallica。

税务局则向上一级法院提出了上诉，使得这一家的国外旅游计划受阻。

卡罗丽娜说：“由于名字没被批准，女儿的护照办不下来，所以我们只好取消了旅行计划，哪儿也去不了。”