How would you react if the resume for someone named 4Real came across your desk? How about ‘Mafia No Fear’ or ‘Midnight Chardonnay’?
How would you react if the resume for someone named 4Real came across your desk? How about ‘Mafia No Fear’ or ‘Midnight Chardonnay’?
Officials in New Zealand took the guesswork out of the potential problems any such named people may encounter later in their lives, and rejected them flat-out.
Some other names rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs, and labelled too bizarre or offensive to be permitted, also included "V8", and "Queen Victoria".
Notably the current department rules forbid any name that might imply a child holds an official title or rank, so "King", "Duke" and "Princess” were all rejected.
In some cases, parents appeared to have lost the motivation to come up with a name at all, instead wanting to dub their new addition simply "2nd", "3rd" or "5th".
In 2008, a New Zealand's family court ordered that a nine-year-old girl whose parents had called her "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii" should have her name changed because it was embarrassing and "makes a fool of the child". At the time of this case, judge Rob Murfitt criticised parents who gave their children inexplicable names, citing examples such as "Number 16 Bus Shelter", "Midnight Chardonnay" and twins called "Benson" and "Hedges".
