Baby names are something that Tom and I find ourselves talking about whenever we watch Judge Judy. Sometimes people will have the most stupid, ridiculous, made-up names. The parents who give them these names are NOT thinking. We know a number of professionals in Human Resources and Employment Recruiting who have said that resumes with strange, made-up names are usually put to the side or removed from the candidates. SO, if you want your child to have an unusual name think about how it will affect them as they grow older and try to fit into society. Think about how other children will pick on them. Think about how their chances for a good job are somewhat dependent upon a name. I'm glad to see that New Zealand (who also just passed gay marriage) has the sense enough to release a list of stupid names that you cannot name your child. COMPROMISE: If you really want to name something strange, get a dog, cat, horse, ferret, or fish. They don't care what you call them, as long as you love them and they don't have to worry about a resume!
Here's the article below from CNN:
No, you can't call your baby Lucifer: New Zealand releases list of banned names
- New Zealand has an agency that signs off on baby names
- Some names that have been vetoed are Mafia No Fear and Messiah
- New Zealand is not the only country to edit names
- Sweden also has a naming law and has nixed Superman as a baby name!
And there's no place for Christ or a Messiah either.
In New Zealand, parents have to run by the government any name they want to bestow on their baby.
And each year, there's a bevy of unusual ones too bizarre to pass the taste test.
The country's Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages shared that growing list with CNN on Wednesday.
Four words: What were they thinking?
In the past 12 years, the
agency had to turn down not one, not two, but six sets of parents who
wanted to name their child "Lucifer." Also shot down were parents who wanted to grace their child with the name "Messiah." That happened twice. "Christ," too, was rejected.
Specific rules
As the agency put it,
acceptable names must not cause offense to a reasonable person, not be
unreasonably long and should not resemble an official title and rank. It's no surprise then that the names nixed most often since 2001 are "Justice" (62 times) and "King" (31 times). Some of the other
entries scored points in the creativity department -- but clearly didn't
take into account the lifetime of pain they'd bring. "Mafia No Fear." "4Real." "Anal."
Oh, come on!
Then there were the parents who preferred brevity through punctuation. The ones who picked '"*" (the asterisk) or '"."(period).
Slipping through
Still, some quirky names do make it through.
In 2008, the country made made international news when the naming agency allowed a set of twins to be named '
"Benson" and "Hedges" -- a popular cigarette brand -- and OK'd the names "Violence" and "Number 16 Bus Shelter."
Asked about those
examples, Michael Mead of the Internal Affairs Department (under which
the agency falls) said, "All names registered with the Department since
1995 have conformed to these rules."
And what happens when parents don't conform?
Four years ago, a
9-year-old girl was taken away from her parents by the state so that her
name could be changed from "Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii."
Not alone
To be sure, New Zealand is not the only country to act as editor for some parent's wacky ideas.
Sweden also has a naming
law and has nixed attempts to name children "Superman," "Metallica,"
and the oh-so-easy-to-pronounce
"Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116."
In 2009, the Dominican
Republic contemplated banning unusual names after a host of parents
began naming their children after cars or fruit.
In the United States, however, naming fights have centered on adults.
In 2008, a judge allowed
an Illinois school bus driver to legally chang e his first name to "In
God" and his last name to "We Trust."But the same year, an
appeals court in New Mexico ruled against a man -- named Variable -- who
wanted to change his name to "F--- Censorship!"
Here is a list of some the names banned in New Zealand since 2001 -- and how many times they came up
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, 2nd, Majesti, Rogue, 4real, * (star symbol), 5th, S P, C, Sargent, Honour, D, Minister, MJ, Chief, Mr, V8, President, MC, Anal (THIS IS RIDICULOUS!), A.J, Baron, L B, H-Q, QueenV
