Reuters reports that a Chinese couple want to name their child "@", which apparently, if pronounced in the English manner as "at", means "love him". Leaving aside the email nightmares the kid will have when it grows up (@@@.cn), using modern symbols as names isn't so rare in China.
The pictographic alphabet contains many characters which computers don't recognize, and a recent ban on alphanumeric (read: foreign) characters in names mean that the Chinese are getting more adventurous when bestowing appellations. So far there has been no official announcement as to whether the name will be allowed (we really hope it's a yes).
This one wouldn't fly here in Spain, where there is an official list of names which you are allowed to use for your children, but, if the guests on Jerry Springer are anything to go by, the US would have no problem with such strange sobriquets.
Couple tried to name baby "@" [Reuters]
