Russian Parents Name Baby ‘Stalin’

A couple in Russia’s southern city of Voronezh has named their newborn child Stalin, city authorities have confirmed, The Moscow Times reports.

The newborn is not the only child in Russia to sport an unusual name.

In August, the BBC reported that a Tajik family living in Russia had renamed their toddler Putin in honor of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “My grandson really looks like Putin did in his childhood and I didn’t hesitate for a moment to change his name,” the child’s grandfather told the BBC. When asked why he had chosen president’s last name, rather than his first, he replied, “Because there are hundreds of Vladimirs, but there is only one Putin.”

Other couples across Russia have showed their support for the Kremlin by naming their children with events associated to its policies.

In August 2015, a couple in Yekaterinburg called their newborn son Krim (“Crimea”), while a girl in Kirov, was named “Russia” after being born on the country’s constitution day. One couple also called their daughter “Syria” in November last year, following Russia’s intervention in the country’s ongoing civil war.

Under Russian law, anyone over the age of 14 has the authority to change their name.