Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Paige Freshwater

Banned baby names so 'offensive' they're illegal to use - but people still try

Naming your child is a special moment in every parents' life - but this doesn't mean it comes without its challenges.

There's so much a parent needs to consider before settling on a name - such as how it'll impact their child later in life, and whether it has any unwanted connotations connected to it.

But some parents have ended up in court after trying to give their children inappropriate names - prompting new laws to be created to ban their use across the country.

A US Birth Certificate statement reads: "While the United States of America has somewhat lax naming laws, there are still some names that you aren’t allowed to use for a child. While these differ from state to state, having a numeral in your name is mostly not allowed.

The US has relaxed rules when it comes to naming children - but has had to put its foot down a few times (stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"Some states also limit the number of characters that can be used, as well as the inclusion of pictograms, obscenity, foreign characters, symbols, emojis, or any offensive language.

"Certain states also forbid the use of accents and/or non-English letters, which is oftentimes due to the inability of their information systems to process vital records including these characters."

In Kentucky, parents can name their children anything they want, while in California they're not permitted to use accents.

However, the Golden State still allows parents to include hyphens and apostrophes in their baby names, as Elon Musk and Grimes showed when naming their child X AE A-XII.

While very few specific names have been banned across the United States, there's still a good number on its list, with these including:

  • King
  • Queen
  • Jesus Christ
  • III
  • Santa Claus
  • Majesty
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Messiah
  • @
  • 1069

But the United States isn't the only country in the world to have banned certain baby names, as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and China, among others, have too.

List of names illegal across the world:

  • Chief Maximus (New Zealand)
  • Robocop (Mexico)
  • Sex Fruit (New Zealand)
  • Linda (Saudi Arabia)
  • Snake (Malaysia)
  • Friday (Italy)
  • Islam (China)
  • Sarah (Morocco)
  • Osama bin Laden (Germany)
  • Metallica: (Sweden)
  • Prince William (France)
  • Devil (Japan)
  • Blue (Italy)
  • Circumcision (Mexico)
  • Quran (China)
  • BRFXXCCXXMNPCCCCLLLMMNPRXVCLMNCKSSQLBB11116 (Sweden)
  • Harriet (Iceland)
  • Cyanide (United Kingdom)
  • Monkey (Denmark)
  • Thor (Portugal)
  • 007 (Malaysia)
  • Griezmann Mbappe (France)
  • Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii (New Zealand)
  • Bridge (Norway)
  • Anal (New Zealand)
  • Nutella (France)
  • Wolf (Spain)
  • Tom (Portugal)
  • Camilla (Iceland)
  • Judas (Switzerland)
  • Duke (Australia)
  • Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.

    Sign up to read this article
    Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
    Already a member? Sign in here
    Related Stories
    Top stories on inkl right now
    One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
    Already a member? Sign in here
    Our Picks
    Fourteen days free
    Download the app
    One app. One membership.
    100+ trusted global sources.