NEWPORT, Tenn. — A Tennessee woman will be allowed to name her 8-month-old son Messiah, a judge ruled Wednesday, overturning an order from another judge who said the boy’s name should be changed to Martin because ‘‘Messiah is a title that is held only by Jesus Christ.’’
Jaleesa Martin said she could not believe it when child support magistrate Lu Ann Ballew last month ordered the child’s name changed during a paternity hearing. The parents were disputing the baby’s surname, with Martin hoping to keep the name she had given him — Messiah Deshawn Martin — and father Jawaan McCullough wanting the baby to bear his last name.
Ballew surprised both parents by ordering that the baby’s name change to Martin Deshawn McCullough, saying that the name Messiah was not in the baby’s best interest.
That decision quickly made international news, and the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a complaint against Ballew with the state’s Board of Judicial Conduct.
The board has not yet made any public ruling on the complaint.
At an appeal hearing in Cocke County Chancery Court on Wednesday, Chancellor Telford E. Forgety overturned Ballew’s decision, finding that she acted unconstitutionally.