A Norwegian mother was jailed after refusing to pay a fine for naming her newborn son 'Gesher' under the country's strict naming laws.
Legal battle over name
Kirsti Larsen, a mother of 14, said she was instructed to name her son Gesher, the Hebrew word for bridge, in a dream she had shortly before the birth of her 13th child in April 1995. She claimed a voice told her in English to call the baby 'Bridge'.
Norwegian authorities refused to register the name, arguing it was too foreign, not recognisable enough as a boy's name, and too similar to the surname Geser. Under Norway's naming laws, which date back to the 1800s, names considered inappropriate or likely to disadvantage a child can be rejected.
Appeals and fine
Larsen and her husband, Øyvind, appealed to the County Governor of Akershus, but their challenge was rejected. The case eventually reached the district court, where they were fined approximately 1,600 kroner for failing to register a legal name within the required timeframe.
Rather than pay the fine, Larsen chose to stick to her guns. "If we accept the fine, it's like we're admitting some kind of guilt," she said at the time. She also maintained that, even if they were defeated in court, "We're still calling Gesher Gesher."
Jail term
Because she was a stay-at-home mother with no income from which authorities could recover the money, the outstanding fine was converted into a two-day jail term.
Speaking to the Norwegian newspaper VG while serving her sentence in Fredrikstad prison in December 1998, Larsen said: "Many people bow down to Big Brother and pay their fines. On principle, I could not agree to this unreasonableness." She admitted that arriving at prison had been an emotional experience, saying: "I must admit that I felt an unexpected sense of shame when I got off the train at Fredrikstad railway station and had to ask someone to explain the way to the prison."
No regrets
Despite the ordeal, she insisted she had no regrets. "Of course I could," she said when asked whether she could have chosen an approved second name to end the dispute. "Now, it's not like I follow everything I dream at night. And I'm not at all for giving my children the most extreme names possible."
Defending her decision, Larsen stated: "The Sabbath is for man, man is not for the Sabbath. And Gesher is not so ugly, is it?"
