Parents from across the world have tried to defy the law by giving their offspring illegal names (Image: Getty)
A Welsh mother once attempted to register her daughter under one of the most toxic names imaginable — Cyanide — claiming it was a “pretty” tribute to the substance that ended Hitler’s life. The courts stepped in. The name was struck down, and the case entered British legal folklore as one of the country’s most striking examples of a growing global phenomenon: the banned baby name.
Britain has no single definitive list of forbidden names, but judges retain the authority to block any name considered harmful to a child. Elsewhere, the rules are frequently far more rigid — with certain nations maintaining government-approved name registers, and others outlawing anything judged offensive, sacrilegious or simply too outlandish.
From a Swedish infant who nearly spent a lifetime introducing himself with a 43-character sequence of random letters and numbers, to a New Zealand child who took her own parents to court at the age of nine to escape the name they had given her, here are the most remarkable banned baby names on record — followed by the full list of 25, originally produced by the site parenting.com.
The name nobody could say
Few naming battles have matched the sheer audacity of the Swedish parents who attempted to call their son Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 — a string of 43 characters that the family insisted should be read as “Albin.” Swedish authorities refused, immediately and without sympathy. The parents had designed the name as a deliberate act of defiance against the country’s strict naming legislation. Their defiance was short-lived.
The girl who sued to escape her own name
A New Zealand child registered at birth as Talula Does the Hula in Hawaii endured nine years under that name before a judge finally granted her relief. The court described it as a name that imposed an unreasonable burden on the child from the moment she was old enough to introduce herself. On the same day, the same judge outlawed Sex Fruit, a pair of twins nearly named Fish and Chips, Twisty Poi and Yeah Detroit.
The French baby named after a breakfast spread
When a French couple registered their newborn daughter under the name of a popular chocolate and hazelnut product, courts moved swiftly to have it changed. The child was subsequently re-registered as Ella. France prohibits names that risk causing embarrassment or harm to the bearer. Switzerland takes an equally firm line, barring corporate brand names from being used for children entirely — luxury marques included.
Sweden draws the line at rock legends
Sweden’s naming authority rejected Metallica — the name of one of rock music’s most celebrated bands — as an option for a Swedish child. The country extended the same ruling to Elvis, apparently concluding that even iconic musical figures had no place on a birth certificate.
The Ohio Santa problem
A grown man in Ohio petitioned the courts to have his name legally changed to Santa Claus. The judge declined. The implications for school runs and job interviews were presumably a factor.
The Tennessee blasphemy row
A Tennessee judge moved to prevent a child from being registered as Messiah, on the basis that the title had not yet been earned. The decision was subsequently reversed on appeal, and the judge was removed from her post. The name has remained in use across the United States ever since.
Denmark’s list
Denmark maintains one of the most restrictive naming regimes anywhere in the world, requiring parents to select from a state-approved register of several thousand names. A couple who sought permission to name their child Monkey — a name conspicuously missing from the approved register — were turned away. The name Anus is also on Denmark’s prohibited list, for reasons that scarcely require elaboration.
The German Adolf question
For decades a perfectly ordinary name across much of Europe, Adolf fell into near-universal disuse following its association with the architect of the Holocaust. Germany and numerous other countries have since moved to prohibit it outright. Where the name does surface today, it tends to appear within extremist communities.
Japan’s devil
Japanese authorities moved in 1994 to block a couple from registering their son under the name Akuma — a word that translates directly as Devil. Officials ruled that saddling a child with such a name constituted a form of harm in itself. The decision established a precedent for names deemed damaging to a child’s prospects or dignity.
New Zealand’s devil
New Zealand has separately prohibited Lucifer, categorising it alongside names judged capable of causing genuine distress or disadvantage to the child who carries it through life. The country’s courts have proved willing to act — as the Talula Does the Hula in Hawaii case made abundantly clear.
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The full list of banned baby names around the world
- Cyanide — Banned in the UK. A Welsh court blocked a mother’s attempt to register her daughter under the name of a lethal substance.
- Adolf — Prohibited in Germany and a number of other nations owing to its inseparable association with the Nazi dictator.
- Aryan — Outlawed in several countries. Though the name originates in South Asian and Persian cultures, it became irrevocably linked to Nazi racial theory.
- Metallica — Rejected in Sweden. The country’s naming authority ruled that borrowing a rock band’s name for a child was impermissible, and applied the same logic to Elvis.
- Nutella — Banned in France. A couple who named their daughter after a well-known chocolate and hazelnut product were ordered by a court to choose something else. She became Ella.
- Monkey — Rejected in Denmark, where an official government register of approved names does not include any primates.
- Anus/Anal — Prohibited in both Denmark and New Zealand.
- Venerdi/Friday — Ruled out in Italy as a name for a child.
- Osama Bin Laden — Banned in Germany after a couple sought to name their newborn after the founder of al-Qaeda.
- Thor — Prohibited in Portugal. Authorities ruled it fell outside the boundaries of acceptable Portuguese names.
- Judas — Banned in Switzerland, which prohibits names associated with biblical or historical figures regarded as villains.
- Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 — Rejected in Sweden. The 43-character sequence, intended as a protest, was supposed to be read as Albin.
- IKEA — Banned in Sweden. The country that gave the world the furniture giant will not permit its name to appear on a birth certificate.
- Akuma/Devil — Prohibited in Japan since 1994, when courts ruled that giving a child a name meaning Devil constituted harm.
- Sex Fruit — Banned in New Zealand on the grounds that it would cause the child unnecessary hardship.
- Talula Does the Hula in Hawaii — Outlawed in New Zealand after the girl who bore it successfully petitioned a court for a change of name at the age of nine.
- Lucifer — Prohibited in New Zealand as a name likely to cause distress or disadvantage to the child.
- Fish and Chips — Rejected in New Zealand when a couple proposed it for their twins.
- President — Banned in Australia, which also prohibits Emperor and Lieutenant on the same grounds.
- Duke — Prohibited in Australia as a title rather than a name, despite widespread use elsewhere.
- Robocop — Banned in Mexico, though fictional character names remain broadly acceptable in other countries.
- Santa Claus — Rejected in Ohio when an adult sought to adopt the name through the courts.
- Messiah — Challenged in Tennessee but ultimately upheld on appeal. The judge who attempted the ban was subsequently removed from office.
- Majesty — Prohibited in several American states, which take a broad view against names that function as titles of rank or honour.
- Jesus Christ — Rejected by courts in several US states on grounds of potential blasphemy and the likelihood of confusion, though the name Jesús is widely used across Spanish-speaking communities
