Parents Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk from the State of Georgia in the USA want desperately to name their 22-month-old daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah - reported AFP. They believe that the name ‘Allah’ is noble, and insist that the decision is in no way religious.
However the State Department of Georgia has refused on the grounds that under the law of the state the child’s last name MUST follow either the name of the mother or the father (Walk or Handy). Despite this seemingly reasonable rule the parents of young ZalyKha were outraged and have enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union in Georgia to sue the State for not allowing them to name their daughter Allah.
The parents claim that because of the state's decision, they cannot get a birth certificate for the child and therefore cannot obtain a social security number. This will later lead to problems with access to healthcare, schools and travel - reported the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.
