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Everyone has that one friend who named their baby something ridiculous (not naming any names here, but yikes), but if you’re like me, you probably just shrug it off. After all, people have the right to name their baby what they’d like (as long as they’re saving an appropriate amount of cash for therapy).
Actually, we would be wrong, my friends, because there are some names that are genuinely off-limits – at least, depending where you are.
Here are 10 that might (or might not) surprise you!
10. Ikea (Australia)
Image Credit: Pixabay
Australia’s rules on naming boil down to the name not being “obscene or offensive or contrary to the public interest,” nor can they be “established by repute or usage.”
The last bit prohibited an Aussie couple from naming their daughter Ikea (which you also can’t do in Sweden).
9. Messiah (USA)
The States have very lenient naming laws, with only some states legally preventing people from naming their children obscenities or numbers.
However a judge did rule in 2013 that a Tennessee couple couldn’t name their baby “Messiah.”
8. @ (China)
Image Credit: Pixabay
You can’t name your kid after a computer keyboard symbol, says China, not even if you try to say it’s short for ai-ta (love him) in Chinese.
7. Nutella (France)
A French judge ruled that the name – chosen because they hoped their daughter would be sweet and popular – was “contrary to the child’s interest,” and would “only lead to mockery and disobliging remarks.”
She’s called Ella instead, at the insistence of the court.
6. . (New Zealand)
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Yeah. That’s a period. That’s it.
Apparently, that is technically called “Full Stop.”
Still… no way, no how in New Zealand.
5. Robocop (Mexico)
Sonora, a northwestern states, keeps a long and ever-changing list of forbidden names in the hopes that their diligence might “protect children from being bullied because of their name.”
And because the names on the list come straight from recent registries of newborns, we can assume some poor kiddo out there is running around named after a fictional cyborg police officer.
Bless.
4. Monkey (Denmark)
Image Credit: Pixabay
Denmark has a list of 7000 approved baby names, and if you want to choose something that’s not on it, you’re required to seek approval before naming your kiddo.
Sadly for the Danish parents, Monkey doesn’t make the cut.
3. Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii (New Zealand)
I have to agree with the judge who, in 2008, ruled the ridiculous name was basically child abuse and removed the girl from her parents’ custody. At 9, she was going by an initial at school to avoid teasing.
2. Sarah (Morocco)
Image Credit: Pixabay
In Morocco, names must reflect the national identity, and Sarah with an ‘H’ is the Hebrew spelling of the name.
You can choose Sara, the Arabic spelling, no problem.
1. Cyanide (England)
The judge who ruled that the name was out of bounds noted that in England, the court would only step in “in only the most extreme circumstances.”
It sounds like a name for one of James Bonds’ girls
Weird, right?
I guess if you wanted to live by yourself on a homestead or in the Canadian tundra or somewhere you could do what you’d like – but I say, just choose a better name.
Sorry.
