Re: [xml-dev] The triples datamodel -- was Re: [xml-dev] SemanticWeb permathread, iteration n+1

[Henrik Martensson <henrik.martensson@bostream.nu>]

On Mon, 2004-06-14 at 00:03, Ari Nordström wrote:
<snip>
> 
> This is certainly off-topic for the list but...
> 
> This middle-name-first thing supposedly common in Sweden is, as far as I 
> can determine, a fairly rare occurence. I did some quick reasearch and 
> found hardly anyone--except Henrik--among my immediate friends and family 
> where this held true. A quick look on the Net indicated the same among 
> Swedish celebrities and notables, as does the habit of various Swedish 
> authorities and organizations to simply pick the first (as in "first", not 
> as in "middle") name when in doubt and without sufficient space to print 
> all names...

It holds true for the parts of Sweden I am from. After checking up a
bit, I am starting to believe the naming customs I held to be common for
all of Sweden are a bit more local than I thought.

I checked a few web pages about official naming rules too, and yes, they
have first names and middle names, where the first name is generally the
name used. Naming conventions have changed a lot over time though, and
there are local and social variations. Darn!

I did some further checking, and there is a historical, and rather
superstitious reason for using two names: the idea was that if someone
got sick, you switched names, and hoped that this would make them get
better.

There is also a reason for having only one name: Priests did not like
the two-name superstition, so they used to refuse to give more than one
name, at least in some parts of the country.

And finally, there is a reason for keeping names secret, of course:
Names have power, and can be used to lay curses.

I do hail from a somewhat heathen part of the country, so that could
explain why my ideas about naming rules differ a bit from Ari's, and
what I found on the web sites.

/Henrik