Iran’s birth registry agency has refused to register a newborn named Guntay, an ethnic Turkish name, for what the agency called the name’s non-compliance with Iranian and Islamic cultural norms.
The child was born April 22 to parents from Parsabad, a city in Ardabil province, which is about 98 percent Turkic. The parents were told Guntay was deemed unsuitable by the national registry on the grounds that it did not align with what authorities classify as “Iranian and Islamic naming conventions,” according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
“This is not the first time the government has interfered in our choice of names,” a source told HRANA. The source said the parents have filed a formal complaint and are pursuing the matter through legal channels.
Without a birth certificate, the child is unable to access basic services including healthcare and legal identity, HRANA noted.
The London-based news outlet Iran International said Iran’s civil registry system “has a documented pattern of rejecting names perceived to originate from non-Persian ethnic traditions.” A similar case last year in Tabriz saw authorities block issuance of birth certificates for triplets named Elshen, Elnur, and Sevgi, all Turkish names, Iran International said.
Although a court later ruled in favor of the parents, the registry appealed the decision, sending the case to a higher court.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has signed, every child has the right to a name while Article 2 prohibits discrimination based on language or ethnicity.
Iran’s civil registry agency defends its policies by citing cultural preservation. “The selection of names that insult Islamic sanctities, as well as titles, epithets, and obscene or gender-inappropriate names, is prohibited. Individuals bearing such names must take action to change them,” it says on its website. Guntay does not fit into any of those categories.