French Court Blocks Parents from Naming Child ’Jihad’, Cites Negative Connotations

The first name "Jihad" refused in France. Several reasons would explain this situation. According to the Dijon (central-east) Public Prosecutor’s Office, the court does not accept this first name because it considers that it can be harmful to the child and likely to cause him problems.

"The first name +Jihad+, which has a pejorative meaning because it is associated with Islamist movements, is replaced by the first name +Jahid+, which, in Arabic, has the same meaning as +effort+, of +courage+, without being associated with the notion of war," the same source said.

In early November 2018, the Town Hall of Dijon had faced a similar case. It had brought it before the family court for the annulment of the first name.

Appreciating the situation, Éric Mathais, Prosecutor of the Republic of Dijon, had declared: "Even if the first name of Jihad or Djihad is a first name attributed in the Arab world and which means [...]: "holy struggle", "holy war", "work", "effort" and that it can therefore have a positive meaning, it remains that, in public opinion, and in view of the current terrorist context, this first name is necessarily associated with integralist Islamist movements".