Baby Names–What’s Up With That?

By Luke Langlois

In a world with seven billion people, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out. We all know that people love to be unique. Around the world, original thinking has taken the form of baby names. Rarely is there situation where an unorthodox baby name causes any problems. However, some people really push the boundaries. Here are a few nations that make sure their children are not named anything too ridiculous.

In France, local birth registrars have to inform their local court if they feel a baby’s name will cause issues or excessive mockery. This law, originally created by Napoleon Bonaparte, has caused the “veto” of quite a few prospective French names.

Nutella

Strawberry

Mini Cooper

Deamon

In Germany, there are a couple of baseline rules. Parents cannot give their children gender-neutral names, last names (as first names), names of objects, or names of products. Besides this, Germany has laws similar to France’s where they do not allow names that could lead to a lifetime of embarrassment, names such as . . .

Matti (Not a clear gender indication)

Osama Bin Laden

Adolf Hitler

Kohl (A last name)

In Sweden, the list of banned names is a bit more interesting, to say the least. Similarly to France, Sweden believes that any names that are obviously unsuitable or offensive are illegal. Swedish parents must register their child’s name three months before birth to the Swedish Tax Agency. Primarily, the Swedish government does this to tax people. Other times, they do this to stop a crime against humanity. Swedish unlawful names include . . .

Metallica

Superman

Ikea

“Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlb11116”

Apparently, residents of New Zealand try to go even further when it comes to naming their children. New Zealand bans one hundred character names, names that cause offense, names that are clearly unfit for a human being,  or names that could be seen as an official title rank. Such banned names include . . .

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii

Lucifer

Fat Boy

Cinderella Beauty Blossom

It’s more than just the eastern hemisphere banning names. Mexico passed a law that banned sixty-one specific names. They banned names that were deemed to lack meaning or are derogatory, names such as . . .

Facebook

Rambo

Hermione

Batman

There are baby-name laws in nearly every country on the face of the Earth, even the liberty-loving United States of America. If this has peaked your curiosity, I encourage you to check out the wide range of illegal baby names and name restrictions. Perhaps these names could provide you with some quick laughs. It is also possible that you’re worried about naming a child something illegal. To add onto this, some of the above names have stories behind them. For example, Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii went to court to change her unwieldy name. No matter what, it is unquestionably beneficial to check out the surprising range of baby-name regulations. I would be a bit careful though; some of these baby names are simply going to be grotesque or offensive.

Editor: AJ Patencio

Primary source: https://www.businessinsider.com/banned-baby-names-from-around-the-world-2016-10