It turns out there are actually a lot of laws on what you can and can’t name your child...
When it comes to naming a child, there are a few things to be aware of – the most important probably being whether your name choice is actually legal.
There are quite a few banned baby names across the globe, but ranging from Chow Tow, Facebook and Anus, to Lucifer, @ and Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii, it’s hardly surprising. Yes, people have actually tried to name their children all of the above.
‘Traffic’ and ‘James Bond’ are also on the list, banned as names in Mexico, while ‘Metallica’ is considered an unacceptable name in Sweden, and a couple in New Zealand were forbidden from naming their child ‘Sex Fruit’ - shocker.
In terms of surnames, the laws only get stricter, with parents having to comply with an impossibly long list of rules and regulations. Some countries insist on a child’s surname being passed down from a parent, or in certain cases having a hybrid of the two, but USA and the UK are surprisingly relaxed, even allowing you to make up a surname for your child if you want to.
A US couple came under fire las year for taking the state of Georgia to court to fight for the right to give their daughter the surname, Allah, and after looking into the rules this side of the pond, it looks like there are actually a few things we should be aware of when selecting our baby names.
Obviously offensive names and blasphemous words are off the list, with a ban on surnames that promote hate or criminal activities in any way. Symbols and numbers are a no-go for both first name and surnames and there’s a maximum character count of 150 (including spaces) - just to give you an idea, that’s roughly the same length as all of Jamie Oliver’s five children's full names put together.
