People should not be named at birth

Apologies for the delay. I've been procrastinating a lot lately mainly because I really don't feel like debating. If not for the debate.org reminders, I may have even forgotten about this debate's existence. Anyway . . . I would like to thank my opponent for instigating this debate and would like to thank all of those who are reading. I ask that no one vote with bias on this debate, but rather vote for the individual who did a better job arguing than the other. With that said, let us proceed. RE: People may dislike the names given to them at birth And? If people dislike their names at birth, then the solution is to have their name changed upon legal age. Given that my opponent agrees that an individual should not be able to change their name until they are able to, I believe there shouldn't be much of a problem. His alternative is that people should be unnamed. To which I respond: 1) What about the people who don't want to have a number for a name? Won't there be people who dislike being unnamed at birth till the age in which they can truly make the "right" decision? 2) What if the people don't like the number they are assigned with at birth? What if they wanted a number of their decision? 3) What if people are persecuted for the number they are assigned? For instance, if there are 3 sixes in someone's number name (such as 666123), it is rather likely that this person will be persecuted. In fact, there are quite a few numbers which possess a taboo or can be recognized as having some negative affiliation. 4) As suggested above, there are numbers which a society may choose to label meaning behind (such as 007). Children may get upset about getting a number which doesn't match up with their personality. Given these 4 insinuations, it is demonstrated that even if we accept my opponents points (as you might have guessed, they fall in line with the arguments he made as to why naming children is bad), the possibilities are still the same, ergo, there is no change, hence changing the status quo is redundant and perhaps more trouble than it's worse given that the entire culture would have to go through the tedious process of change. Hence, it would really be unnecessary for me to go any further in this round, but to pacify my opponent, I shall do so anyway. RE: People could be given names at birth which would hinder them To support this, my opponent mentions cases where individuals have been made fun of by their peers. He even goes so far as to testify an event which is convenient for his argument; he testifies that his so-called uncle formerly named "CHandler" actually became murderer and had a mental breakdown because he couldn't stand his name yet it now a normal citizen because he had his name changed to John. A) Indeed, there are bullies who will persecute other individuals for matters as trivial as their names just as there are bullies who will persecute other individuals due to some supposedly embarrassing trait of their parents . Based on my opponents reasonings, individuals who feel attacked by these bullies who mock them should have the option to choose who their parents will be as well. After all, if individuals with "embarrassing parents" could pick their parents at any time they find them inconvenient, that would most certainly solve everything, right? Wrong. Why do these names demean these people? Because the people who claim it does say so? What PRO encourages is an era of weak people. People who cannot handle those who may try and persecute them, thus attempt to appease to appease tormentors by fixing what their tormentors have deemed the problem. Rather than encourage individual to give in to the foolishness of bullying and meat their persecutor's demands, individuals should be encouraged to stand up to their tormentors as well as develop a mindset that doesn't so drastically rely on the thoughts/opinions of others. B) My fair audience, my opponent's testimony is more likely than not fabricated. Think about it for a moment. His uncle became a murderer yet is now a normal every day citizen after having gotten a name change? Individuals who have committed crimes such as murder typically get a life sentence in prison (or worse). How is it that this "murderer" managed to get his name changed without being caught by the authorities? For that matter, normal citizens are not citizens who are serving time in prison. Finally, why didn't this "uncle" just get his name changed in the first place? None of this testimony adds up. Clearly, this is nothing more than a ruse concocted by the instigator in attempt to get some leverage in this debate. It would be far better if the instigator would actually provide some legitimate evidence (perhaps statistics on the number of people who have become murders in response to disliking their birth names). RE: "My third argument is that people could be given names which have improper meanings (based on their way of life and personality)." That assumes that parents name their children on the premise of what kind of person they believe their child to be. It's unlikely that when someone decides to name their child "Daniel", they immediately think "God judges." Many parents simply name their child because they like the name. Furthermore, given that the term "fitting" is highly subjective, a child can always be argued to have a fitting or an unfitting name regardless of circumstances. Finally, there is no reason for us to assume that a majority of the people are even aware as to how their name has been defined, thus, there is really no reason to consider this as being reason to mandate that children remain unnamed at birth. RE:>My fourth and final argument (for now) is that people deserve a choice in what their name is. Indeed so, hence why we already have a system that allows children to change their name at the same age they are allowed to vote (though in some countries, the age varies). In order to win this debate, the instigator must prove that his system is superior to the current system. If he fails to do this, you have no reason to vote in his favor. And that'll do it for now.