A Brazilian couple has been told by a court that they could not name their newborn baby after a former king for fear that the child could be bullied.
Danillo Prímola and his wife Catarina Prímola, from Belo Horizonte, planned to name their son Piyé in honor of the first black Egyptian pharaoh.
But the authorities thought the boy could be a victim of bullying in the future, as the pronunciation of the name is similar to that of a Portuguese word for a ballet dance step. The name is written differently in Portuguese and the paper reads “Pie”.
The Minas Gerais Court of Justice initially blocked the parents from registering the name, before a judge overturned the decision on Friday.
Danillo Prímola and his wife Catarina Prímola, from Belo Horizonte, planned to name their son Piyé in honor of the first black Egyptian pharaoh
Danillo Prímola and his wife Catarina Prímola pose with their son’s birth certificate
The couple welcomed their first child on August 31, but had already chosen the name in honor of the Kushite king and founder of Egypt’s 25th dynasty.
They chose the name after listening to the 2023 carnival theme song while working on the choreography at the Venda Nova Academic Samba School.
“There was a word there that spoke of the black pharaoh,” said Danillo Prímola. “We went to investigate what he was like and found the story of Piiê, who was a Nubian warrior who fought and conquered Egypt and became the first black pharaoh.”
They chose to name their son after Piyé because of the importance of maintaining a connection to their African ancestry.
“Recovering African names is a powerful way to give a new narrative to the history of black people,” said Danillo Prímola. “We have the right to educate our children with this strength, with this culture and in a way that they have representation in their name.”
The Minas Gerais Court of Justice initially sided with the Belo Horizonte civil registry, banning the name because it could not “register names that could expose their bearers to ridicule.”
The boy’s name is written in Portuguese as ‘Piié’.
Camila Prímola and her husband Danillo Prímola chose the name to maintain a connection with their African ancestry.
Piye was the first black Egyptian pharaoh and ruled Egypt between 744 and 714 BC.
In its ruling, the court said the pronunciation of the pharaoh’s name is similar to that of the Portuguese word “plié,” which is a ballet dance step.
“Therefore, the sound and spelling of the name were the main reasons for the rejection,” said the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais, “since they could cause future embarrassment to the child.”
“We know that bullying cannot be fought with prohibition or repression,” said Danillo Prímola. “Bullying can be fought by studying and working on the ignorance of society as a whole.”
The legal battle delayed the baby from receiving the required vaccinations.
She also arrived late for a screening that is done when a newborn is about five days old to detect rare but serious diseases.
Camila Prímola was originally scheduled to go into labor on September 19.
She lost a pregnancy in 2020 and found out earlier this year that she was expecting the couple’s first child, Danillo Prímola said.
“And it was euphoria. It was already planned, it was something we wanted,” she said. “And in the meantime, we learned about the history of the Pharaoh, who was a great black leader.”
