‘Messiah’ Baby Can Keep His Holy Name, Tennessee Judge Rules


Newport, TN – Two Tennessee parents are thrilled after a judge reversed a controversial ruling banning them from bestowing the epic name “Messiah” on their newborn baby.

Messiah DeShawn McCollough was almost stuck with the far more mundane “Martin” after Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered his name be changed. The reason the the 8-month-old’s name change was simple: There can be only one.

“The word ‘Messiah’ is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person – and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Ballew said.

But the boy’s mother, Jaleesa, and father weren’t being intentionally blasphemous with the odd appellation. They just liked the sound of it.

“I was shocked. I never intended on naming my son Messiah because it means God and I didn’t think a judge could make me change my baby’s name because of her religious beliefs,” Jaleesa said.

So both parents appealed the decision. After all, they had agreed on the first name and the decision was a violation of their constitutional rights.

Chancellor Telford E. Forgety Jr. (holder of an epic name himself) agreed and overturned Ballew’s decision, acting that the court had acted unconstitutionally. Specifically, the court had violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution and added that the court was on;y supposed to weigh in on the child’s last name, not his first (that was the dispute that originally put the parents in court).

They finally decided that the father’s name be used, making the boy Messiah DeShawn McCollough. Jaleesa, despite going to court over the child’s surname, is just happy he gets to keep “Messiah.”

“I’m just happy — I really don’t have nothing to say. I’m just glad it’s over with,” she said after the ruling.

Share this article: ‘Messiah’ Baby Can Keep His Holy Name, Tennessee Judge Rules
More from Inquisitr