Nice baby, what's her name?

[Gob]

What does Anal, Messiah, Lucifer and the number 89 have in common?

Parents in New Zealand have tried to give these names to their babies and failed, CNN reports.

The country’s Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages recently updated its list of banned names and shared it with the media.

Not only are the name choices odd, but so are the number of times different sets of parents have tried to bestow these unusual names on their children.

Since 2001, the name King has been attempted 32 times, Lucifer 6 times and Duke 10 times. It's a good thing Giuliana Rancic isn’t a Kiwi.

The list of 71 names includes punctuation marks such as a period and asterisk and the use of slashes or brackets.

Since 1995, legislation has provided a set of rules for acceptable names for New Zealanders where "a name, or combination of names, should not cause offence, be unreasonably long or resemble an official title or rank," a spokesperson for New Zealand's department of internal affairs told Sky News.

This explains why the names 2nd, 3rd and 5th have been barred.

In 2008, a 9-year-old girl named “Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii” was put under New Zealand family court’s guardianship to change her name since it “makes a fool of the child,” the Guardian reports.

But not all outrageous names have been given the boot. Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence have all been approved.

Germany, Sweden, Japan, Denmark, Iceland, China and Norway also have naming laws.

Here’s the list of New Zeeland’s banned names and the number of occurrences since 2001:

Justice:62

King:31

Princess:28

Prince:27

Royal:25

Duke:10

Major:9

Bishop:9

Majesty:7

J:6

Lucifer:6

using brackets around middle names:4

Knight:4

Lady:3

using back slash between names:8

Judge:3

Royale:2

Messiah:2

T:2

I:2

Queen:2

II:2

Sir:2

III:2

Jr:2

E:2

V:2

Justus:2

Master:2

Constable:1

Queen Victoria:1

Regal:1

Emperor:1

Christ:1

Juztice:1

3rd:1

C J :1

G:1

Roman numerals III:1

General:1

Saint:1

Lord:1

. (full stop):1

89:1

Eminence:1

M:1

VI:1

Mafia No Fear:1

2nd:1

Majesti:1

Rogue:1

4real:1

(star symbol):1

5th:1

S P:1

C:1

Sargent:1

Honour:1

D:1

Minister:1

MJ:1

Chief:1

Mr:1

V8:1

President:1

MC:1

Anal:1

A.J:1

Baron:1

L B:1

H-Q:1

Queen V:1

[wesw]

so...

new Zealand has no Honour, no Justice, and no one calls out to their Lord.

sounds like they need a Messiah...., oops, he s banned too!!!!

[Big RR]

Many of the banned names appear to be titles like sir, knight, duke, etc.; does NZ recognize titles like that? I could see then why you couldn't name someone that as it could lead to confusion.

The two I don't understand being banned were MJ and AJ--do those letters have some obscene connotation in the local vernacular?

[MajGenl.Meade]

I imagine NZ believes children should not be saddled with stupid letters instead of actual names. They also did not allow other combinations or single letters.

[Big RR]

Perhaps, but I've known people (generally men) who only had a first initial and a middle name (C Ernest, e.g.) as well as a man who always went by the name AJ and signed his name A J (last name). Also, while some single and double letter combinations appear to be banned, I find it difficult to believe these are the only ones people proposed to use, so I was assuming others were permitted.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well one can "go by" any name one wishes to go by, according the gov't, as long as it's not for a fraudulent purpose.

As to single letters, they are not names and that's that. They are affectations, stupidities or just a joke. Apparently NZ looks dimly on such

[Sue U]

Seems overly intrusive to me and there are several names on that list that I wouldn't think twice about. Sargent Shriver never would have been, and Joseph Heller would have lost a major character in Catch-22. I'll bet many of the "denied" names were attempted solely to get on this list.

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Big RR]

You're right Sue; as I recall. Shriver was called R Sargent Shriver, so maybe he would have broken two rules.

[Sue U]

Also, "Royal"??? What's up with that??

[Big RR]

There go those titles again. Who knows? I have a good friend named Royal.

[Long Run]

Harry S Truman would have been SOL, too.

[Long Run]

But, the intent of the law makes sense -- to protect kids from their asinine parents trying to give them names that are sure to cause them problems. A Boy Named Sue might have been the inspiration.

[Big RR]

There's a road that runs to a place that's rather hot that is paved with good intentions.

[rubato]

There go those titles again. Who knows? I have a good friend named Royal.

yrs,
rubato

[wesw]

I wonder if Kenesaw (sp) Mountain Landis would be allowed

[MajGenl.Meade]

Or J Peasemold Gruntfuttock