Story Archive

What’s in a Name II?

Johanna Sandström went to a Kyrkhult, Sweden, tattoo parlor to get the names of her two children inked onto her arm. She discussed the names — Nova and Kevin — and the placement on her arm. “I said I wanted the names of my children tattooed on me and I gave the artist their names,” Sandström said. “The artist drew the design and didn’t ask anything about the spelling so I didn’t give it any more thought.” The assumed spelling was wrong: the names on her arm are Nova and Kelvin. When she went back to the tattoo parlor, Sandström says, the artist laughed and said there wasn’t much he could do other than offer a refund and give her the number of a tattoo removal clinic. But when Sandström found out it would take multiple treatments to remove the tattoo, she and her husband opted for something easier: they changed Kevin’s name to Kelvin. “He’s five now, but when I got the tattoo he was approaching two,” Sandström said, so he adapted well. The couple now has a third child: a daughter, Freja. “I need to get that name tattooed,” Sandström said, “but I’m going to write it down on a piece of paper and check it over ten thousand times.” (MS/Local Sweden) ...And the tattoo artist will check it once.