"King, however, has reigned supreme on the country's banned baby name list for the past 16 years (other than one blip: being ousted by Prince in 2023). In fact, multiple rejected names last year were related to royalty (Prince, Princess, Queen and Sovereign among others). Others were nixed for relating to cannabis (Indica, Indika and Sativa)."
"The country has several requirements for a baby name: It must not be offensive, resemble a title or rank without adequate justification, be unreasonably long or include numbers or symbols. The country's Department of Internal Affairs has registrars that review each child's proposed name. If the name does not meet the country's criteria, Registrars suggest that parents change it."
"According to an open letter from Julia Taylor from the office of Regulatory and Identity Services, parents have the opportunity 'to provide further justification as to why their child should have that name, such as a familial history.' In the end, however, the Registrar-General has the power to decline the name."
New Zealand maintains strict naming laws enforced by the Department of Internal Affairs, rejecting 51 proposed baby names in 2025. 'King' topped the rejection list for the 16th consecutive year, declined 8 times. Other rejected names included royalty-related terms like Prince, Princess, Queen, and Sovereign, cannabis-related names like Indica and Sativa, and Lucifer. Names must not be offensive, resemble titles without justification, be unreasonably long, or include numbers or symbols. Parents can appeal rejections by providing justification, such as familial history, though the Registrar-General has final authority. The U.S. maintains comparably lenient naming laws varying by state, though some names like Adolf Hitler and @ have been ruled illegal.
#new-zealand-naming-laws #baby-name-restrictions #regulatory-requirements #rejected-names #naming-standards
Read at TODAY.com
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