Reference:
In my parents' day, you had to have a Christian name, i.e. Biblical, or a saint's name, to be christened. Naming children after their parents, and grandparents etc. was also traditional. Lots of my older relatives were never known by their first names, as they weren't really the chosen names, but were deemed appropriate for various reasons.
Yep. We all know old ladies baptised as Mary but known as Molly (for example) or Margaret known as Peggy/Meg(or other "short-for") or any other blummin' name...sometimes not even a short version and has naff all to do with the "given" name...I mean, literally nothing at all 
Reference:
You're probably thinking of Sweden, where all names have to be approved.
That's the one EL.Something that I waffled on about in my missing post was a couple in (I think?) NZ who wanted to give their kid a number or symbol? I think it was within the last few years.
