Australian parents will be turned away at the birth registry office if they chose to name their baby after the late Princess Diana or naming them anything the department considers ‘ridiculous’.
Some might say that the government is in fact saving innocent babies from parents who plan on potentially subjecting their child to a lifetime of mockery and ridicule.
Some of the names submitted on Australian birth registration forms include Fireman Sam and Honest Mary but last year Victoria’s Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages agreed that naming your child after a condiment is okay and so names like Pepper were approved. Jazz was also okay and so was Reef but names with an overtly religious or British Royals tone are unacceptable (William and Kate had better be sure their newly expected Royal baby isn’t born Down Under, hey).
This meant that a couple who wanted to name their baby Princess Diana had to opt for the number two name on their baby names list.
In some countries, like South Africa, you would create public outcry if you were told Prince and Princess are also on the list of no-no’s…. In South Africa that is a common name, as is Lucky, Precious, Honest even Behaviour! One South African’s birth certificate has him named Two-Rand (as in the South African currency).
The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act also rejects names which are obscene or offensive, cannot be established “by repute or usage”, are too long or contain symbols such as exclamation and question marks.
Other names Australian parents spent nine months conjuring up included Wonderful Beautiful, Anarchy, Lord and even the misspelt Glory Hallelujah New Covernant.
List of names to avoid if you are hoping for a successful session at Australian offices of Births, Deaths and Marriages:
Lord
Glory Hallelujah
New Covernant
Wonderful
Beautiful
Fireman Sam
Anarchy
Princess
Prince
Honest Mary
Tit
Princess Diana
New Zealand’s list of dodgy names is a little more extensive and includes names like:
Justice – the most applications at 62
King – 31 applications
Princess – 28 applications
Prince – 27 applications
Royal – had 25 applications
Duke
Major
Bishop
Majesty – had 7 applications
Lucifer – for which there had been 6 applications
Knight
Lady
Queen
Justus
Queen Victoria
Regal
Emperor
Christ
Juztice
C J
General
Saint
Lord
Eminence
Mafia No Fear
Majesti
Rogue
4real
* (star symbol)
Sargent
Honour
Minister
MJ
Chief
V8
President
A.J
Baron:
H.Q.
Queen
